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Meherpur, August 12: The shocking violence in Bangladesh's Meherpur in which the Hindu ISKCON temple came under attack by arsonists on Monday, August 5, continues to haunt the devotees of the temple and the Hindus living nearby the temple in the city almost 300-kms away from Dhaka. The temple was vandalised and set ablaze by the arsonists during the last week's protests and violence that marred Bangladesh and attacks have been witnessed against the minorities.
Amid the tales and pictures of destruction and vandalism that the temple and devotees suffered, a report by news channel TV9 Bharatvarsh showed the kuan or well used by devotees to escape the fire.
The TV9 Bharatvarsh news report by reporter Manish Jha showed the devotees in the temple narrating the harrowing incident that took place on August 5. A devotee that the reporter spoke to showed the well in which a devotee jumped to save his life.
At this moment, a woman standing nearby informs that three people had jumped into the well. The devotee then informs that the people who couldn't find their way outside the temple, jumped into the well to save their lives.
The report goes on to inform how after the arsonists left, people entered the temple and found the devotees inside the well. The three Hindu devotees in the temple were rescued by the people later.
Yudhistir Govinda Das, the spokesperson for ISKCON, posted about the attack on the temple and confirmed the incident. He took to X and posted, "Bangladesh Update: As per the info I have received, one of our ISKCON center (rented) in Meherpur (Khulna division) was burnt including with the deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra Devi. 3 devotees who lived in the center some how managed to escape & survived."
Concerns have been raised about the safety of Hindus and the minority population living in Bangladesh ever since the protests turned violent which forced ex-PM Sheikh Hasina to flee the country last Monday (August 5).
While Sheikh Hasina continues to be in India, the interim government formed in Bangladesh is being led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. After being sworn-in, the interim leader appealed to the protesters to ensure no minorities were targetted and termed the reports of attacks on minorities as "heinous" and condemned the violence. However, Bangladesh continues to simmer and remains tensed.
