Bangladesh: Mirajuddin barges into temple and vandalises idol of Goddess Saraswati, angry Hindus hand him over to police

Mirajuddin was previously involved in the destruction of the idol of Saraswati idol at the Faridpur ISKCON temple in February last year. Despite his arrest at that time, he was released on grounds of ‘mental unstability.’

2 February, 2025

On Friday (31st January) night, a Muslim man barged into a Kali temple in Faridpur city of Bangladesh and vandalised an under-construction idol of Goddess Saraswati.

According to reports, the accused was identified as 32-year-old Mohammed Mirajuddin. He was caught red-handed attacking the Hindu place of worship, following which the accused was handed over to the people.

Mirajuddin was subsequently arrested and produced before a court. He was thereafter remanded to custody. According to the temple committee members, the Kali temple is protected by a 4-foot brick wall and the main gain is made of rods.

This facilitated the easy entry of Mohammed Mirajuddin into the temple premises. The idol which was vandalised was being prepared for Saraswati Puja, scheduled to be held on Monday (3rd February).

Mirajuddin was previously involved in the destruction of the idol of Saraswati idol at the Faridpur ISKCON temple in February last year. Despite his arrest at that time, he was released on grounds of ‘mental instability.’

A Hindu student named Samar Mondal, who lives adjacent to the Kali temple, informed, “The idol was being prepared by an artisan in exchange for 6000 Taka. Hindu students living in our hostel wanted to perform Saraswati Puja. We will not be able to get it repaired on time.”

OpIndia has been vetting and reporting cases of atrocities on Hindus since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on 5th August 2024.

There have been at least 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops and businesses within 3 days of the fall of Dhaka.

We previously exposed how Muslim students have forced as many as 60 Hindu teachers, professors and government officials to resign from their positions.

Human rights activist and exiled Bangladeshi blogger, Asad Noor, has recently revealed that the minority community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’.

On 6th September, a procession of Hindu devotees carrying the idol of Lord Ganesha came under attack in the Kadam Mubarak area in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.

Ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations, a radical Muslim man named Yasin Mia vandalised the idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities in Gouripur town in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh on 25th September.

In the latest series of attacks, idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities were vandalised at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap and the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap on 28th September and 1st October respectively.

The attacks were carried out in Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh. While a total of 4 idols were defaced at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap, another 5 Hindu idols were destroyed at the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap.

On 3rd October, 7 idols of Hindu deities were destroyed at the Gopinath Jiur Akhara Durga Puja mandap in Kishoreganj, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh.

On 5th November, the Hindu community came under attack from police and law enforcement authorities in Hazari Goli in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.

On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked Hindu minorities and vandalised 3 temples in Patharghata in  Chittagong district of Bangladesh.

The Hindu religious sites that the Muslims targeted included the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the Shoni Temple, and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple. The attack took place immediately after the conclusion of Jumma Namaz. 

On 30th November, a prominent Hindu journalist named Munni Saha was arrested by the police from Karwan Bazar in Dhaka city of Bangladesh.

A group of extremists attacked the Mahashmashan Kali Mata Mandir, vandalised 7 idols of deities and stole gold ornaments on 13th December 2024.

On 19th December, a Muslim man identified as Alal Uddin vandalised an idol at the Polashkanda Kali Temple and then attempted to create a fake alibi. The incident occurred in Haluaghat upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.

Another 37-year-old Muslim man identified as Azharul vandalised several idols of deities in Haluaghat Upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.

The recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides, attempts at banning Hindu organisation ISKCON and stiffling Hindu protests with cases of ‘sedition’ highlight systematic persecution under the interim government of Muhammad Yunus.

There have been multiple instances of attacks on Hindus under the pretext of ‘blasphemy.’ The recent cases of Hridoy Pal, Utsab Mandal, Partha Biswas Pintu, Akash Das, Pranta Talukder and Utsab Kumar Gian are shining examples of targeted persecution.

So far, there have been many attempts to downplay violence against Hindus as ‘fake‘, ‘exaggerated‘ or ‘politically motivated‘.