Widespread concern and outrage have spread both nationally and internationally following the demolition of a temporary Durga temple and its statues with bulldozers in the Khilkhet area of Dhaka. The incident took place just a day before the sacred Rath Yatra festival. The Bangladesh Railway authorities conducted the eviction drive, labeling the temple—constructed on government-owned railway land—as an “illegal structure.”
On Thursday, June 26, in the presence of railway officials and a large contingent of law enforcement, bulldozers were reportedly used to destroy the temple and its statues, according to eyewitnesses and local residents. Videos of the demolition have gone viral on social media, drawing strong reactions from various quarters.
In a joint statement, the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and the Metropolitan Sarbojanin Puja Committee expressed deep concern and strong dismay over the incident. The organizations said that bulldozing the temple and statues on the eve of Rath Yatra had deeply wounded the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. They also questioned why nearby structures on the same railway land remained untouched while the temple was targeted for demolition.
The statement, signed by Puja Udjapan Parishad President Basudev Dhar and General Secretary Santosh Sharma, and Metropolitan Committee President Jayanta Kumar Deb and General Secretary Dr. Tapas Chandra Pal, also referenced recent incidents of communal violence in places like Lalmonirhat. They urged the government to take decisive action in the national interest.
According to local residents, the Durga Puja festival has been held at the Khilkhet railway site for many years. Besides Durga Puja, a small temporary temple also hosted regular worship such as Kali Puja. Although the temple was not a permanent structure, it was recently fenced with tin sheets, and brickwork had begun to make the structure permanent.
Tensions escalated on the night of Monday, June 23, when a group of fundamentalists arrived at the site, claiming the temple was illegally occupying railway land. They attempted to vandalize the structure. Police intervened with the help of local residents, but the fundamentalist group issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the temple committee to remove the temple by noon the next day. Although Khilkhet police held meetings with both parties in an attempt to defuse the situation, two railway officials returned on Thursday morning with bulldozers, accompanied by police and railway security, to carry out the eviction.
Local resident Shubho Roy commented, “There are many places in Bangladesh where railway land has been occupied for decades with high-rise buildings housing generations of people, yet no eviction occurs there. But here, without any prior notice, our small temple was flattened with a bulldozer. We weren’t even given time to remove the statues.”
Hindu devotees reportedly tried to resist the demolition, but to no avail. The statues were destroyed with bulldozers outside the temple. A significant number of police and army personnel were deployed at the site ahead of the eviction. Female police officers were also present to control the protesting Hindu women, some of whom stood in front of the bulldozers in an attempt to save the temple. All protesters were forcibly removed by the authorities.
Khilkhet Police Officer-in-Charge Md. Kamal Hossain stated, “The temple was built on railway land. It had long been enclosed with tin sheets. On Monday, when the temple authorities began building a brick wall, locals objected, and tensions flared. We tried to mediate the matter over several days, but the railway authorities carried out the eviction on Thursday. Police were only responsible for maintaining law and order.”
Md. Nasir Uddin Mahmud, the Bangladesh Railway’s Dhaka Divisional Estate Officer who led the eviction, said, “We received instructions from our office to conduct the eviction within the day, and we followed those orders. It wasn’t just the temple—several nearby illegal shops and structures were also removed.”
Meanwhile, Dhaka Divisional Railway Manager Mohammad Mohiuddin Arif said, “No one is allowed to occupy railway land. Our eviction drive is a continuous process. Wherever we see encroachment, we act.” Denying the accusation that statues were broken by bulldozers, he claimed, “No statues were destroyed at the site. The temple committee removed them beforehand.”
Publication Date: 26 June, 2025
Reports published in various newspapers on this issue: mzamin, kalbela
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