Durga Festival Completed Peacefully at 33,851 Pavilions Without a Single Incident for the First Time in the Country's History, Says State Minister Mir Shahe Alam

The Sharadiya Durga festival has been completed peacefully across the country without a single incident for the first time in the country's history, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam has said. The festival was held at 33,851 puja pavilions nationwide without any untoward incident — unprecedented in Bangladesh's 55-year history, he said.

The state minister made the remarks as chief guest at a views-exchange meeting titled 'Development Prospects and Challenges of Bogura, the Heart of the Northern Region', organised by Bangladesh Pratidin at the Hotel Mom Inn auditorium in Bogura on Thursday (22 October). Bangladesh Pratidin editor Loton Ekram chaired the event.

Mir Shahe Alam said that in Bangladesh's 55-year history, no prime minister had ever visited puja pavilions in three separate regions outside Dhaka — Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram — and this time that is exactly what happened. He presented the prime minister's visits as proof of the government's sincerity behind the festival's peaceful atmosphere.

The state minister said that in the last election, one group had treated Hindu citizens as people 'in their pocket'. They have come out of that, placed their trust in the present government and voted for it, he said. The celebration of the Durga festival at 33,851 pavilions across the country was a reflection of that trust, he commented.

He said: 'This is something we desired. They have placed trust and faith in us. We, the people's government of Tarique Rahman, have been able to repay that trust and faith to the people of the Hindu community.' In other words, he sees the festival's peaceful completion as the result of the government keeping its promise.

The state minister added that the administration and BNP activists together guarded the puja pavilions and helped conclude the Hindu community's biggest festival in a peaceful environment. This picture of joint guarding from pavilion to pavilion was one of the defining features of this year's festival, he noted.

The Sharadiya Durga festival is the biggest religious festival of Bangladesh's Hindu community. Every year it is celebrated at thousands of pavilions across the country, and security around the festival is always a major topic of discussion. This year's figure of 33,851 pavilions itself proves that scale.

In some past years, reports of isolated untoward incidents and tension during the festival were received. For that reason, the claim of a festival completed without any incident is being presented by the government as a major success. That tone was clear in the state minister's speech.

The views-exchange meeting itself was about Bogura's development prospects and challenges; but the Durga festival dominated the chief guest's address. At an event on development in Bogura, described as the heart of the northern region, the state minister delivered this message of national significance.

According to the government's account, the peaceful festival was made possible by a combination of three things: the administration's vigilance, the involvement of political activists, and the trust of the Hindu community. Whether this continuity can be maintained in future festivals remains to be seen.

Those concerned believe this experience of a peacefully completed Durga festival will serve as an example in security planning for other major religious and national events in the days ahead. For now, the government's message at the festival's end was one of relief, voiced by the state minister.