06-08-2006, 09:43 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dhaka hawks want ancient Dhakeswari temple shifted
Pramod K Singh | New Delhi
In a bid to appease fundamentalist Muslims in the run-up to the 2007 general election in Bangladesh, certain sections of the Begum Khaleda Zia Government are mounting pressure to shift the historic Dhakeswari Kali temple located in the heart of Dhaka to a more nondescript smaller plot.Â
Ironically, Dhaka takes its name from this 12th century temple, the oldest surviving Kali shrine. The temple complex is based at Romona Park from where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman gave his famous clarion call to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan on March 25, 1971.
According to sources, hardline Islamist Ministers in Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamat-e-Islami Government want the historic temple to be "shifted" to a smaller plot without any delay. This demand, voiced by organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami, has been festering for some time. Moti-ur-Rehman, Amir of Jamat-e-Islami, is Industries Minister in the Begum Zia Government.
In the event the Islamists succeed in forcing the Government to shift the temple, they hope to reap a rich harvest in the general election scheduled for next year.
Highly placed security sources say that the attempt to shift the temple is cause for concern. If this were to happen, it would have an impact in the districts along the Indo-Bangla border and elsewhere.
The minority Hindu community of Bangladesh is agitated over the fundamentalists' move. The Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad, which represented minorities' interests, has petitioned the Begum Zia Government to prevent the shifting of the temple, a declared place of worship (Debottar Bhumi) as it holds a great deal of symbolism for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and for Hindus worldwide.
Leaders of the Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad and the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee have reminded Begum Zia's Government of its assurance that the temple would not be shifted.
The president of the Parishad and renowned Bangladesh freedom fighter Major General CR Dutta, while denouncing the move, has said that shifting a temple and its sanctum sanctorum is against Hindu religious tenet.
He said the 2.2 acre plot on which the temple and an ashram exist at present is classified as a Hindu religious place, the nature of which cannot be changed, nor can it be taken over by the Government. The Parishad and the Puja Celebration Committee have chalked out a joint action plan to fight the fundamentalists' move.
The temple was build in the twelfth century by Ballal Sen. Later, sanyasi Gopal Giri of the Badrinath Ashram at Joshi Math, now in Uttaranchal, came to Dhaka and established a religious seat for his guru. Subsequently, devotees of Maa Anandamayi established the Maa Anandamayi Ashram near the temple.
After being mauled by the Indian Army, retreating Pakistani forces had attacked the temple during the 1971 liberation war. More than 100 ascetics, devotees and others were killed by Pakistani troops on March 27, 1971 during that attack.
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Pramod K Singh | New Delhi
In a bid to appease fundamentalist Muslims in the run-up to the 2007 general election in Bangladesh, certain sections of the Begum Khaleda Zia Government are mounting pressure to shift the historic Dhakeswari Kali temple located in the heart of Dhaka to a more nondescript smaller plot.Â
Ironically, Dhaka takes its name from this 12th century temple, the oldest surviving Kali shrine. The temple complex is based at Romona Park from where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman gave his famous clarion call to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan on March 25, 1971.
According to sources, hardline Islamist Ministers in Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamat-e-Islami Government want the historic temple to be "shifted" to a smaller plot without any delay. This demand, voiced by organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami, has been festering for some time. Moti-ur-Rehman, Amir of Jamat-e-Islami, is Industries Minister in the Begum Zia Government.
In the event the Islamists succeed in forcing the Government to shift the temple, they hope to reap a rich harvest in the general election scheduled for next year.
Highly placed security sources say that the attempt to shift the temple is cause for concern. If this were to happen, it would have an impact in the districts along the Indo-Bangla border and elsewhere.
The minority Hindu community of Bangladesh is agitated over the fundamentalists' move. The Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad, which represented minorities' interests, has petitioned the Begum Zia Government to prevent the shifting of the temple, a declared place of worship (Debottar Bhumi) as it holds a great deal of symbolism for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and for Hindus worldwide.
Leaders of the Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad and the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee have reminded Begum Zia's Government of its assurance that the temple would not be shifted.
The president of the Parishad and renowned Bangladesh freedom fighter Major General CR Dutta, while denouncing the move, has said that shifting a temple and its sanctum sanctorum is against Hindu religious tenet.
He said the 2.2 acre plot on which the temple and an ashram exist at present is classified as a Hindu religious place, the nature of which cannot be changed, nor can it be taken over by the Government. The Parishad and the Puja Celebration Committee have chalked out a joint action plan to fight the fundamentalists' move.
The temple was build in the twelfth century by Ballal Sen. Later, sanyasi Gopal Giri of the Badrinath Ashram at Joshi Math, now in Uttaranchal, came to Dhaka and established a religious seat for his guru. Subsequently, devotees of Maa Anandamayi established the Maa Anandamayi Ashram near the temple.
After being mauled by the Indian Army, retreating Pakistani forces had attacked the temple during the 1971 liberation war. More than 100 ascetics, devotees and others were killed by Pakistani troops on March 27, 1971 during that attack.
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