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Durga Puja celebration begins in Northern region

Nation Desk
01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 | Update: 01 Oct 2022 00:21:02
Durga Puja celebration begins in Northern region
Artisans put finishing touches on the idols in preparation of Durga Puja– Shamsul Haque Ripon

The Sanatan community will begin five-day celebrations of their greatest religious festival of the Durga Puja with ‘Bodhan’ from Saturday in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions amid due religious fervour and gaiety.

In Rajshahi, a meeting on celebrating Durga Puja cordially and peacefully in the metropolis was organised where the Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Abu Kalam Siddique spoke about the safety measures taken.

He said stern legal action will be taken against those who will be found engaged in destroying communal harmony and there will be no place for communalism.

Apart from the RMP officials, leaders and members of puja udjapon committees, Hindu Kallyan Trust, public representatives and others concerned joined the meeting.

RMP Commissioner Kalam Siddique said they have already intensified intelligence surveillance ahead of the Durga Puja throughout the metropolis.

“We are determined to celebrate the religious festival amid enthusiasm and communal harmony,” he said, adding that there will be overall security measures and intelligence vigilance has already been enhanced across the city.

“We have to put in our level best efforts to ensure communal harmony for all faiths in each of the puja mandaps,” said the commissioner.

The five-day Saradiya Durgatshob will be celebrated in 95 puja mandaps in the city from October 1 to 5 and tight security measures have been taken centring all the mandaps.

Meanwhile, preparation for celebrating the Durga Puja is in the final touch everywhere in the metropolis at present. People of the community are passing their busy days with the work of decorating and painting idols and puja Mandaps.

In Rangpur, the Sanatan devotees will start thronging all 5,488 puja mandaps erected this time in the division from the morning to have a glance at goddess Durga and seek her blessings for their welfare and well-being of humanity as a whole.

The administrations, law enforcement agencies and local units of Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad (BPUP) have taken ample steps to ensure peaceful celebrations of the Durga Puja abiding by the health directives amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local leaders of BPUP said the five-day celebrations will end on October 5 next with the ‘Bijoya Dashami’ parade and immersion of the idols of goddess Durga in water bodies.

The district administrations have distributed 500 kilograms of rice among each of the puja mandap authorities in the division to assist the Sanaton community in celebrating their greatest religious festival.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) for Rangpur Range Police Mohd Abdul Alim Mahmud said special measures have been taken with the deployment of police, RAB, Highway Police, Ansar-VDP and community police to ensure peaceful celebrations of the Durga Puja.

Local Members of Parliament, Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, Upazila Nirbahi Officers, politicians, leaders of sociocultural organisations and BPUPs are visiting puja mandaps and extending cooperation to the Sanaton community people.

“We have taken sufficient steps and security measures to ensure peaceful celebrations of the five-day religious festival at all Puja mandaps across the Rangpur division,” the DIG added.

Durga Puja will be celebrated at 968 mandaps in Rangpur, 617 mandaps in Gaibandha, 532 in Kurigram, 433 in Lalmonirhat, 889 in Nilphamari, 1,285 in Dinajpur, 468 in Thakurgaon and 296 in Panchagarh districts in the division this year.

President of Rangpur district unit of BPUP Ajoy Prasad Babon said the Sanaton community will begin celebrations of the Durga Puja festivity amid huge enthusiasm at all puja mandaps erected in Rangpur district from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, artisans are passing the busiest time at the last moment to give finishing touches to erected idols of goddess Durga with innovative artistic creativity and colours to make those more charming, attractive and beautiful in looks.

At different puja mandaps in Rangpur city, Sanatan devotees Shyamoli Rani, Sunil Chandra and Pradip Kumar Roy expressed satisfaction over the security steps taken for the peaceful celebration of the Durga Puja.

General Secretary of Rangpur district unit of BPUP Dhiman Bhattacharya thanked the government and law enforcement agencies for taking adequate steps to ensure peaceful celebrations of the Durga Puja festival in every puja mandap.

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