Tarique Rahman Calls for Equal Rights on Durga Puja Tour as Hindu Leaders Seek Funds and Justice

Equal citizenship takes centre stage on three city tour

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman handed a Tk 10 lakh cheque to a Hindu temple in Rajshahi on October 20, 2026, during a tour of Durga Puja venues in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram. His message was that every Bangladeshi should receive equal treatment under the law and equal access to state support, regardless of religion, ethnicity, profession or social identity.

At Rajshahi's Dharmasabha, also known as the Radha Gobinda Temple, Rahman linked that promise to national development. The government, he said, wanted people of every faith involved in building the country, because progress would be impossible if any community were left behind.

Rahman, who is also chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), described equality as an entitlement under the Constitution and laws. Speaking to Hindu community members after visiting the temple's puja mandap, the space where worship takes place, he said:

Regardless of a person's religion, profession or ethnic identity, their rights as citizens are equal.

Temple representatives used the visit to seek practical support: a fund for puja celebrations and assistance with establishing temples. In Chattogram later in the tour, community leaders raised further demands concerning religious institutions, neglected sites and people facing criminal cases.

The visits took place on Maha Navami, the ninth day of Durga Puja. The festival was due to conclude on October 21 with Bijoya Dashami and the immersion of idols. Rahman's appearances brought a pledge of equal citizenship into meetings where organisers were also asking for money, institutional changes and access to justice.

Rajshahi receives a cheque and requests lasting support

Rajshahi Dharmasabha president Bishwanath Sarkar received the Tk 10 lakh cheque, equivalent to Tk 1 million. Rahman met puja celebration leaders at the temple in the city's Miapara area between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., after addressing a public meeting at the Madrasa field.

Temple authorities welcomed the increased government grants and assistance for this year's Durga Puja. Their request for a dedicated celebration fund would provide support beyond a single visit, while their appeal for temple construction concerned the places where communities gather and worship.

Rahman said the BNP regarded people born and raised in Bangladesh as Bangladeshi citizens and considered people of all religions equal. He asked those present to cooperate in national development, presenting a shared national identity as the basis for working together.

The stop was his first visit to Rajshahi since forming the government after the BNP won a parliamentary majority. After the temple meeting, he left for Shah Makhdum Airport to continue to Chattogram.

A long day connecting Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram

Rahman's itinerary combined religious visits, public speeches and meetings with supporters. He travelled from Dhaka to Saidpur by military aircraft before continuing by road towards Rangpur, where people gathered at Taraganj and Paglapir to greet his motorcade.

The main stages of the journey were:

• October 20, 9 a.m.: Rahman departed Tejgaon Airport in Dhaka, arriving at Saidpur at 9:50 a.m.
• Around noon: He visited the Radha Gobinda Dharmasabha Temple in Rangpur.
• About 3 p.m.: His aircraft landed in Rajshahi, followed by a public meeting and the temple visit between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
• 7:40 p.m.: He arrived at Chattogram's Shah Amanat International Airport, reaching JM Sen Hall at about 8:20 p.m.
• October 21, 1:10 a.m.: He returned to Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport.

Shah Amanat airport public relations officer Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil confirmed the October 20 arrival in Chattogram. The Chattogram donation is also dated October 21, although the detailed itinerary places the temple programme on the evening of October 20.

At JM Sen Hall, citizenship comes before majority labels

Chattogram's JM Sen Hall, in Rahmatganj, hosted the final temple stop. The metropolitan branch of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad has organised Durga Puja there for 40 years. Its leaders said this was the first visit by a prime minister to the venue.

Rahman told the gathering that the law should apply to him and to every other citizen in the same way. He also said the state should give people of different religions equal rights and benefits. Addressing the use of religious majority and minority labels, the prime minister said:

Majority or minority is not the issue. The only thing that matters is that you are Bangladeshi.

Rahman drew on his 17 years in London to explain his argument. Although he belonged to the Muslim majority in Bangladesh, he said, he had lived as a member of a religious minority in the United Kingdom. His point was that a person's place within a religious majority changes from country to country, while equal treatment should remain a responsibility of the state.

He asked Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians to cooperate in building a peaceful country, saying the government needed the participation of every community.

Community leaders ask for institutions, repairs and justice

Arpan Kanti Banerjee, president of the Chattogram metropolitan Puja Udjapan Parishad, welcomed Rahman and set out several requests. He called for the Hindu Religious Welfare Trust to become a foundation, sought nationalisation of Chandranath Dham and asked for improvements at Medhas Ashram, which he described as being in poor condition.

Banerjee also thanked the government for extending the Durga Puja holiday. He said members of the Hindu community loved Bangladesh and wanted to remain there in an environment free from religious hostility.

The community leader recalled anxiety after August 5, 2024, and credited BNP leaders with standing beside Hindu residents. While saying Chattogram had avoided communal violence, he also referred to isolated incidents and people from Sebak Colony and Hazari Lane who remained in prison in cases he described as false.

Puja council leaders sought investigation of cases brought after August 5 and intervention to secure justice and withdrawal where appropriate. Their requests concerned both religious life and the treatment of individuals by police and courts. No timetable was announced for decisions on the proposed institutional changes, funding requests or review of the cases.

Temple grants and accommodation bring concrete needs into view

Rahman gave the Rangpur temple a Tk 10 lakh cheque as well as the Tk 10 lakh provided in Rajshahi. In Chattogram, he gave Tk 20 lakh for development of the JM Sen Hall puja venue. Together, the three amounts total Tk 40 lakh, or Tk 4 million; the Chattogram grant was twice the amount given at each of the other two stops.

Rangpur temple president Bhabatosh Sarkar and general secretary Khokon Sarkar presented Rahman with a crest. The prime minister also addressed an unfinished structure behind the temple intended to accommodate worshippers travelling from distant places.

He asked the state minister for public administration to examine financial assistance for that accommodation. For visiting devotees, completing the building would mean having somewhere to stay near the temple. In Chattogram, organisers presented Rahman with a bonsai tree.

The grants addressed immediate local needs, while the requests for a celebration fund, temple construction and changes to the welfare trust sought continuing support. Those requests gave practical form to the broader discussion of equal access to state resources.

Development pledges extend beyond religious venues

Rangpur's wider development programme featured prominently in Rahman's remarks. He said Tk 1,800 crore had been allocated for the city at an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council meeting two weeks earlier. That is Tk 18 billion, intended for a much broader range of public works than the temple grants.

Rahman said bridges, culverts, schools and colleges would be developed in phases, with local government bodies helping identify needs at village, union and upazila levels. He connected balanced development across regions with the government's financial capacity.

At the Rajshahi public meeting, 38,970 sugarcane growers in the region received Tk 12 crore in incentives through mobile financial services. The payments put money into financial accounts accessible by phone. Rahman also discussed plans for barrages on the Padma and Teesta rivers to address water shortages, alongside talks over Bangladesh's share of river water.

At roadside gatherings, he cited agricultural loan waivers of up to Tk 10,000, the Family Card and Farmers' Card programmes, and monthly allowances for imams, muezzins and religious leaders of other faiths. He presented these measures as efforts to support people across occupations and communities.

Rahman links shared rights to 1971 and the 2024 uprising

Rahman repeatedly referred to the 1971 Liberation War, later movements for democratic rights and the July and August 2024 uprising. He described them as occasions when people acted together without making religious identity the condition for solidarity.

Speaking in Chattogram about the Liberation War, the prime minister said:

We did not see who was Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian. We only saw people fighting for the War of Liberation. They wanted to free the country, and they did.

He made a similar argument about the 2024 uprising, recalling people carrying injured protesters to hospitals and doctors treating them without asking their religion. Rahman said the common aim across those struggles was a Bangladesh where people could live peacefully and exercise their rights.

His appeal also extended to political affiliation. In Rangpur, he said the government wanted to serve both people who voted for the BNP and people who did not. He urged political groups to resolve differences through Parliament rather than disrupt daily life, citing the effects instability could have on education, healthcare, trade and employment.

Festival security remains part of the setting

Rahman's tour followed expanded Durga Puja security announced on October 16. Dhaka Metropolitan Police had assigned 2,072 additional personnel to its festival operation, connected cameras at worship venues to a control room and increased monitoring for online rumours and misinformation.

Across Bangladesh, security arrangements also involved 212,818 Ansar and Village Defence Party members, Border Guard Bangladesh personnel and approximately 3,500 Coast Guard members. Their assignments covered worship venues, remote communities, border areas and riverbanks used during the festival.

The scale of the celebrations was visible in October 19 puja gatherings, when worshippers attended Kumari Puja in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad counted 33,851 mandaps nationwide. Rahman's three city tour therefore took place within a festival involving tens of thousands of worship spaces, each dependent on local organisation, funding and public safety arrangements.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury were among those attending the Chattogram programme. Community leaders presented their requests before senior figures responsible for public finances, security and cultural affairs, alongside the prime minister.

Key Points

• Rahman visited Durga Puja venues in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram during an October 20 tour.
• He pledged equal rights and state support regardless of religion, ethnicity, profession or political affiliation.
• Grants announced at the three venues totalled Tk 40 lakh, including Tk 10 lakh for Rajshahi's Dharmasabha temple.
• Hindu community leaders sought a celebration fund, improvements to religious sites, changes to the welfare trust and justice for people facing criminal cases.
• Rahman cited Tk 1,800 crore for Rangpur development and Tk 12 crore in incentives for 38,970 sugarcane growers in the Rajshahi region.
• Durga Puja was due to conclude on October 21 with Bijoya Dashami and idol immersion.