A three-day film festival of the Bangladesh government, scheduled to be held in Tripura capital Agartala from October 21, has been postponed due to the alleged communal tensions in the neighbouring country.
Reports citing unnamed senior officials on October 19 said that the decision was taken due to “unavoidable circumstances”.
“In the proposed film festival, 34 films, mostly on ‘Mukti Yuddha’ (1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh), were planned to be screened from October 21 to 23 in the Rabindra Satabarshiki Auditorium,” a senior unnamed official of the Bangladesh assistant high commission in Agartala was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
Meanwhile, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on October 19 urged the Bangladesh government to protect the lives, properties and religious places of the minorities in that country.
Many organisations, intellectuals, political parties and NGOs in Assam and Tripura have condemned the recent attacks on people belonging to the Hindu community in Bangladesh, besides organising protest rallies against the communal violence in the neighbouring country.
They have met the Bangladesh assistant high commissioners in Agartala and Guwahati and urged them to request their government to ensure action against those who attacked the minorities, vandalised Durga Puja pandals and properties belonging to the non-Muslim families.
As per media reports, the mob violence erupted in Comilla earlier last week, after unconfirmed posts went viral on social media about the alleged desecration of the Quran at a Durga Puja venue, following which Hindu temples were vandalised.
A large number of people have been detained in Chandpur, Chittagong and other places in connection with the cases filed over the attacks on Durga Puja pandals.
Incidents of violence were also reported from Hajiganj, Chandpur, Noakhali, Cox’s Bazaar, Chattogram, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Moulvibazara, Kurigram and several other places.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised strong action against those involved in provoking communal disturbances by spreading fake photos of the Quran being placed at the feet of a Durga idol at a Comilla temple during Durga Puja.
