Bangladesh extends Durga Puja holidays to three days amid security concerns

DHAKA: Bangladesh govt has extended the official Durga Puja holidays to three days in response to a longstanding demand of the Hindu community as well as strengthened security measures after seven under-construction idols at a temple in Mirzapur were recently vandalised. Officials said govt, on directions of PM Tarique Rahaman, increased funding for major puja mandaps to Tk 5 (nearly Rs 4 crore) crore from Tk 4 crore (Rs 3.1 crore). Combined with the regular Friday and Saturday weekend holidays, the extension will provide a total five-day break — Oct 20 (navami) to Oct 24 — for the Hindu community, they said. Security arrangements have been assigned across govt agencies at the national, divisional, district and upazila levels to ensure safety and smooth celebration of Durga Puja, home minister Salahuddin Ahmed said, adding that the number of puja mandaps has increased by 1,500 from last year to 33,851 this year. Officials said authorities will use a mobile application previously deployed by National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre to strengthen monitoring during Durga Puja. The app will facilitate rapid dissemination of information about any untoward incident, Ahmed said.