Protesters give 24-hour ultimatum to press home 7-point demand

A number of protesters who demonstrated at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka issued a 24-hour ultimatum to meet their seven-point demand that included repairing of the temples and puja mandaps vandalised in the recent attacks.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of people including Dhaka University students staged a demonstration at Shahbagh protesting the recent assaults and arson attacks on temples and neighbourhoods at different parts of the country during Durga Puja, the largest festival of the Hindu community.

The protesters began their demonstration around 10:30am and came up with the 24-hour ultimatum--- in the afternoon as they wrapped the agitation--- to press home their demands.

They said people were killed and temples, puja mandaps, houses and shops of the Hindu Community people were destroyed during the attacks.

They called upon the government to pay compensation to the affected people, arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

They demanded that the government enact a law to ensure the highest punishment for the offenders who may attack on the temples, puja mandaps, houses and other establishments of the Hindu Community.

The protesters said a separate ministry will have to be formed for the Hindu people and the Hindu Kalyan Trust will have to be modernised to serve the interest of the Hindu community in the country.

The government will have to allocate 15 percent of the GDP for the welfare of the minority communities in the country, they said.

Earlier in the day, a number of students of the Dhaka University and the members of the Hindu Community gathered at the Teacher Student Centre of the varsity and marched towards Shahbagh intersection by holding a procession.

Several religious establishments of the Hindu community were vandalised and houses attacked in Cumilla town while some houses were put on arson in Rangpur after an alleged incident of desecration of the Holy Quran became viral on social media, on Wednesday.

The incident of the alleged desecration occurred at Nanuar Dighir Par Durga Mandir in Cumilla town and was posted on Facebook.

In Cumilla some other temples and houses came under attack by the melee of people who thronged the streets of the town. Later, police and fire brigade teams were called by the temple committee.