(Bangladesh politics is slowly warming up for next round of elections. The ruling Awami League under Sheikh Hasina has a clear advantage as rival Khaleda Zia of BNP is serving jail term for corruption and is unlikely to contest the polls.
Hasina has also dismissed BNP’s demand for next elections under a 'caretaker administration'.)
New Delhi:
Alarmed by a series of attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh, India on Thursday, Oct 14, said that the Indian High Commission is in close contact with authorities in Bangladesh over the matter.
"We have seen some reports of attacks on religious gatherings in Bangladesh. We note that the Bangladesh government has reacted strongly to it. We also understand that Durga Puja celebrations continue in Bangladesh," MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters at the weekly briefing here.
He also said: "Our High Commission is in close contact with authorities".
At least four people are feared killed and many others injured in mayhem in Bangladesh as unidentified miscreants attacked some temples there during Durga Puja celebrations.
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| Two friendly PMs |
BJP leader in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari. LoP state assembly, also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to take necessary and urgent steps to provide relief to the 'Sanatani People' of Bangladesh.
"The notorious vandals are habituated in targeting the 'Sanatani' minority community of Bangladesh. This time the religious fanatics took to the streets to vandalize several Durga Puja pandals and various temples also", he wrote.
Communal incidents have surged in Bangladesh in the last two days, with a spree of attacks on
temples and pandals amid Durga Puja celebrations.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said tough action would be taken against the
perpetrators, regardless of their religion.
A Home ministry spokesperson in Dhaka said that the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB)
troops have been deployed in 22 districts across the country and the services of
the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have been also enlisted.
At least 41 people were arrested following violence that reportedly left up to four dead and at least 60 injured.
The violence spread in Chandur areas where in a place called Hajiganj a large number of 'radical Muslims'
attacked temples, while the puja was in progress forcing police open fire on the mob leaving at least
four people dead, reports said.
Reports also said, this year the Hindu community, who make up less than 10 per cent of the country’s
160 million people, set up more than 33,000 puja pandals. However, rituals like Kumari Puja and immersion
processions were curtailed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
India reacts with caution on China-Bhutan pact:
Meanwhile, India reacted with caution to Bhutan and China signing an agreement on a “three-step roadmap"
to expedite negotiations to resolve boundary dispute.
“We have noted the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bhutan and China today.
You are aware that Bhutan and China have been holding boundary negotiations since 1984.
India has similarly been holding boundary negotiations with China," MEA spokesman Mr Bagchi said.
In a statement, Bhutan said its Foreign Minister Lyonpo Tandi Dorji and China’s Assistant Foreign
Minister Wu Jianghao have inked an MoU on the “three-step roadmap".
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What a way of 'honouring' a mother of 15 children : Tale from Mizoram
New Delhi:
Fortune favours the brave, everyone has heard it. But in Mizoram a woman - who gave birth to 15 children - was given the 'highest award' of Rs 1 lakh and honoured with a citation.
This happened in Mizoram's Tuithiang locality under Aizawl East-II assembly constituency; and the unique honour was bestowed by the state Sports Minister Robert Romawia Royte, the local elected legislator.
The excuse or reason is that the native Mizo population is dwindling and hence women like her need to be awarded and honoured. The unprecedented show had the backing of influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) and a Presbyterian Church leader Rev. P M Manikama.
Sports Minister, Robert Romawia Royte, also loves to be called 'Triple R', in fact has distributed
Rs 2.5 lakh to 17 women who delivered 'more children' at a function held
within his Aizawl East-II constituency on Tuesday.
Royte belongs to Mizo National Front, the party led by state Chief Minister Zoramthanga.
Royte said that the incentives to mothers were given in accordance with 'more children drive' launched
by different church bodies and denominations and the Young Mizo Association (YMA)..
This 'adventurism' or gesture is nothing new in Mizoram.
In 2018, a Baptist church in Lunglei district town announced incentives to encourage couples to
have more babies in an effort to check their dwindling numbers.
Of course, this disregards the national policy to control the population.
The church in remote Lunglei town had said it will pay families a one-time cash assistance of
Rs 4,000 for a fourth child and an additional Rs 1,000 rupees for each new child.
The Young Mizo Association had endorsed this move as well.
Lalramleina Pachuau, senior executive of the Mizoram Synod of the Presbyterian Church, said (in 2018) that his organization was not in favor of announcing any cash incentives. “But it is a fact that Mizos have the problem of a dwindling population.”
Locals in Lunglei town say the issue is more of a challenge for Baptist Mizos. “We Baptists are just 200,000 only,” said a local Baptist man who asked not to be named.
The population issue remains a vexed problem in the region, which has more than 200 linguistic and ethnic groups across the seven states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya are India’s only Christian-majority states.
India’s population policy has “failed in the northeast, especially among Naga and Mizo ethnic minority people, because they firmly believe that a mother’s womb should not become a grave yard,” said Ratan Gupta, a social worker based in Guwahati, capital of Assam state.
People like Gupta say the concern about dwindling numbers in the region should be understood in a sociopolitical context rather than a religious one. Ethnic minority groups constantly fear being swamped by outsiders from mainland India, he said.
Mizo youth leader Vanlalruata confirmed this fear but said they “are not against professionals coming and working in our state. The fear is of a regular influx.”
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