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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Bangladesh clarifies media reports on Durga temple destruction, says temple built without permission, land owned by Railways
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Bangladesh government on Friday clarified the circumstances surrounding the demolition of a Durga temple in Dhaka's Khilkhet area, stating that the temple was built without permission on land owned by Bangladesh to the Foreign Ministry, the local Hindu community installed a makeshift Puja Mandap on railway land during Durga Puja last year without prior permission. Although the railway authority later extended permission, the organisers failed to remove the structure after the celebrations, violating their agreement."The fact remains that last year, during Durga Puja, without having prior permission, the local Hindu community installed a makeshift Puja Mandap on a piece of land that is undisputedly owned by Bangladesh Railways. Later, the Railway authority extended permission with the condition that as soon as the Puja celebration is over, the organisers would remove the makeshift Mandap. Regrettably, after the Puja was over in October 2024, the organisers declined to remove the makeshift Mandap, violating the mutual agreement. Rather, they established a 'Maha Kali' (Kali Murti) there," the Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a ministry further explained that despite "repeated reminders, they unfortunately took the initiative to make the Mandap permanent, disregarding their own arrangement with the railway authorities.""In December 2024, Railway authorities held consultations with local community representatives, organisers of the Mandap and issued a public notification asking all concerned to remove all unauthorised installations, including vendors, hundreds of shops and political party offices, illegally built on either side of the rail tracks owned by Bangladesh Railway in the area," the statement to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, the land is owned by Bangladesh Railways, with the ministry stating that 200 feet from the existing rail track is considered solely railway land. Two additional rail tracks are being constructed in the area, and the land occupied by the temple is needed to complete the project."Basically, 200 feet from the cast of the existing rail track is solely the land of Bangladesh Railway. This is also to mention that 02 (two) more rail tracks are being constructed under a project titled, "Construction of 3rd & 4th DG line in Dhaka-Tongi section and Doubling of Dual Gauge line in Tongi-Joydebpur section of Bangladesh Railway" and this piece of land was a dire need to complete the new lines under this project," the statement ministry highlighted that "over the past months, repeated reminders to the illegal land occupiers went unheeded."The Bangladesh government emphasised its commitment to safeguarding the rights of all communities and protecting places of worship. However, it stressed that building religious structures on public land without permission is not permissible."On 24th and 25th June, Bangladesh Railways finally asked all to remove all the unauthorised installations, including the Puja organisers to remove the temporarily built Mandap. Finally, on 26th June, following due process, Bangladesh Railways proceeded to the peaceful eviction of all unauthorised structures along the rail track in Khilkhet area. In the course of the eviction process, the idol of the makeshift Mandap was immersed in the nearby Balu River, in due reverence, with the participation of the members of the local Hindu community," the ministry Bangladesh government has reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the rights of all communities and protecting places of worship, while emphasising that building religious structures on public land without permission is not permissible."The removal of unauthorised structures in order to recover government land is a regular and lawful administrative activity. While the laws of the land ensure full protection to all places of worship without discriminating against any built in conformity with law, it is not permissible for anyone to build any religious structure encroaching on public land under any circumstances. The organisers of the makeshift Mandap clearly exploited the trust and goodwill of the Railway authorities by violating their own agreement," it minority organisations in Bangladesh held protests, condemning the demolition and alleging that the authorities did not provide prior notice to the the Ministry of External Affairs criticised the interim government of Bangladesh for the demolition on Thursday, stating that the government failed to protect the temple and instead projected the issue as illegal land use. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal emphasised that it is the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to protect Hindus, their properties, and religious institutionsMEA spokesperson Randhir said, "We understand that extremists were clamouring for demolishing the Durga temple in Khilkhet, Dhaka. The interim government, instead of providing security to the temple, projected the episode as illegal land use, and they allowed the destruction of the temple today. This has resulted in damage to the Deity before it was shifted.""Let me underline that it is the responsibility of the interim government of Bangladesh to protect Hindus ' properties and religious institutions," he added.
Economic Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
'God is watching': TV actress Puja Banerjee after being accused of extortion amid house mortgage and scam claims
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma duped In a shocking turn of events, television couple Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma — who recently opened up about being victims of a massive financial fraud — are now facing serious allegations themselves. Just when the duo had begun to share their side of a harrowing personal ordeal, they found themselves at the centre of another controversy. This time, Bengali film producer Shyam Sunder Dey and his wife Malabika have filed an FIR against the couple, accusing them of extortion, physical assault, and Banerjee, known for her work in popular Hindi and Bengali shows, broke her silence by penning an emotional note on Instagram. Without naming names, she acknowledged the storm they're currently weathering and mentioned 'going through the toughest time' of their lives. While thanking those who have stood by them, she also offered blessings to those believing the allegations and said, 'GOD IS WATCHING.'The accusations surfaced shortly after the couple had gone public with their own financial nightmare. In a recent video, Puja and Kunal revealed that they were victims of a large-scale scam that wiped out all their savings. Puja, who looked visibly shaken, shared that they will have to start from zero and that they lost all their savings in this fraud. The actress had also shared that they were duped by someone very close to them, on whom they placed their Banerjee had shared that they had mortgaged their home to recover funds lost in a financial scam, and now face the risk of losing it. In one of the vlogs, she showed that she visited the Icchapurti Hanuman temple with her son, praying for strength and stability. As he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, Puja's emotional plea was for her child to always have a roof above his head.
Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
On demolition of temple, Bangladesh says it was set up last year on rail land
NEW DELHI: A day after India denounced the destruction of a Durga temple in Dhaka, the Bangladesh government said on Friday that the shrine was demolished, along with many other unauthorised structures built along railway tracks, but only after the idol was removed and immersed in a nearby river. The removal of unauthorised structures to recover government land is a 'regular and lawful administrative activity'. Against the backdrop of a sharp downturn in bilateral ties since the installation of a caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus last August, the external affairs ministry criticised Bangladeshi authorities on Thursday for the demolition of the Durga temple in the Khilkhet area of Dhaka. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that 'extremists were clamouring for demolishing the Durga temple' and the interim government had 'projected the episode as illegal land use' instead of providing security to the temple. Bangladesh's foreign ministry said in a statement that during last year's Durga Puja, the local Hindu community installed a makeshift 'puja mandap' on a piece of land owned by Bangladesh Railways without prior permission. The railways permitted this on the condition that the organisers would remove the mandap as soon as the puja celebrations were over. 'Regrettably, after the Puja was over in October 2024, the organisers declined to remove the makeshift Mandap violating the mutual agreement. Rather they established a 'Maha Kali' (Kali Murti) there,' the statement said. In December 2024, the railway authorities held consultations with local community representatives and organisers of the mandap and issued a notification asking for the removal of all unauthorised installations, including vendors, hundreds of shops and offices of political party 'illegally built' on either side of the rail tracks, the statement said. After repeated reminders to those who illegally occupied the land, Bangladesh Railways asked for the removal of all unauthorised installations during June 24-25. 'Finally, on 26th June, following due process, Bangladesh Railways proceeded to peaceful eviction of all unauthorised structures along the rail track in Khilkhet area,' the statement said. 'In the course of the eviction process, the idol of the makeshift Mandap was immersed in the nearby Balu River, in due reverence, with the participation of the members of the local Hindu community,' the statement said. The removal of unauthorised structures to recover government land is a 'regular and lawful administrative activity'. The statement added, 'While the laws of the land ensure full protection to all places of worship without discriminating against any built in conformity with law, it is not permissible for any to build any religious structure encroaching public land under any circumstances.'
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'God is watching': TV actress Puja Banerjee after being accused of extortion amid house mortgage and scam claims
In a shocking turn of events, television couple Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma — who recently opened up about being victims of a massive financial fraud — are now facing serious allegations themselves. Just when the duo had begun to share their side of a harrowing personal ordeal, they found themselves at the centre of another controversy. This time, Bengali film producer Shyam Sunder Dey and his wife Malabika have filed an FIR against the couple, accusing them of extortion, physical assault, and more. Puja Banerjee, known for her work in popular Hindi and Bengali shows, broke her silence by penning an emotional note on Instagram. Without naming names, she acknowledged the storm they're currently weathering and mentioned 'going through the toughest time' of their lives. While thanking those who have stood by them, she also offered blessings to those believing the allegations and said, 'GOD IS WATCHING.' Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma duped The accusations surfaced shortly after the couple had gone public with their own financial nightmare. In a recent video, Puja and Kunal revealed that they were victims of a large-scale scam that wiped out all their savings. Puja, who looked visibly shaken, shared that they will have to start from zero and that they lost all their savings in this fraud. The actress had also shared that they were duped by someone very close to them, on whom they placed their trust. Puja Banerjee had shared that they had mortgaged their home to recover funds lost in a financial scam, and now face the risk of losing it. In one of the vlogs, she showed that she visited the Icchapurti Hanuman temple with her son, praying for strength and stability. As he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, Puja's emotional plea was for her child to always have a roof above his head.
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Puja Banerjee breaks silence on the money extortion controversy; says, 'Going through the toughest time of our lives…'
TV couple Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma, who recently made headlines after opening up about the financial fraud they went through, are now facing serious allegations themselves. The couple has been accused of several grave charges by Bengali film producer Shyam Sunder Dey. His wife, Malabika, has reportedly filed an FIR against the couple for extorting money. Puja has now reacted to the accusations against her and Kunal. Puja Banerjee took to her Instagram handle and penned a long note responding to the allegations. She mentioned that she is going through the toughest time and expressed gratitude to those who have been supporting them. The post read: 'Going through the toughest time of our lives. To those who are standing by us—we will be forever grateful. And those who believe in the lies spread against us—God bless them too. I believe in God, and you know.' Bengali producer Shyam Sunder Dey and his wife, Malabika, recently made several serious accusations against Kunal and Puja. They alleged the couple was involved in money extortion, physical assault, and more. Meanwhile, Puja and Kunal had previously revealed that they were victims of financial fraud and had lost a substantial amount of money. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending Local Enterprise Accounting Software [Click Here] Accounting ERP Click Here Undo Puja earlier shared, 'We are talking about this today because during Eid, I had posted a video on my Instagram handle, after which we have been receiving a lot of calls asking what has happened. So, we want to share it with you all. These past 2–3 months have been extremely difficult for us, and we have no idea what will happen next. We have been victims of a fraudulent financial scam and lost a huge amount.' Talking about the scam, Puja elaborated, 'We have to start from zero, and we won't give up. We don't want to give up. We lost all our savings in this fraud. All we want is your support and prayers. We believe in God.' Kunal added, 'We are part of an industry where our livelihood is connected to you all. If our work isn't watched by you, then it has no value. You all are our family, and you need to know that we got cheated by someone. '
