State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan said attackers on the Hindu community in Lohagara upazila of Narail will get punishment under law. He came up with the assertion while briefing journalists after an agreement signing ceremony at Bangladesh Secretariat on Thursday. “You (Journalists) have seen who are responsible for the attack on Hindus. Attackers have already been arrested. They will have to face the music now. We want justice whoever they are. Offenders will be given punishment insallah,” said the minister. Also read: Narail teacher humiliation: HC orders judicial inquiry Faridul said, “I visited the spot on July 15 and 19. I think the whole situation was brought under control by the local Awami League and its associate organisations. The situation could have worsened further if they did not give protection to the Hindus.” “We have visited Narail at the direction of the prime minister to calm down the situation and held a cross-religion dialogue there.” Mentioning that the defeated forces of the country’s Liberation War are still active, the state minister said their (defeated forces) main target is to destabilise the country by creating anarchy. “They don’t want to see Bangladesh as a non-communal state. They want Bangladesh as like Pakistan or Afghanistan.” The state minister also said some vested quarters are trying to foil the election process as the next general election is knocking on the door. Following a Facebook post on Friday evening, a mob vandalized a temple, grocery shops, and several homes of the Hindu community in the Digholia Bazar area under the Lohagara upazila of the district. Also read: Narail vandalism: College student put on 3-day remand The mob took to the streets, attacking and vandalizing several homes on the allegation that a youth named Akash Saha had hurt their religious sentiments through a post on Facebook. They also broke into and vandalized the Saha Para temple, as well as several shops.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan has urged the people of the country to exercise restraint and not to take law into their own hands over the reported desecration of the holy Quran in Cumilla. “Don’t take law into your own hands. Everyone should maintain religious harmony and peace,” he said in an emergency announcement on Wednesday evening. Read: No evidence of disrespecting Quran found: Probe body

A hard-and-soft approach needs to be applied to control militancy as it cannot be contained just by enforcing law, said chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Md Monirul Islam.

Still in his first week as State Minister for Religious Affairs, Md Faridul Haque Khan on Tuesday reiterated the point he pushed on his very first day: idols and sculptures are two different things, and focusing a discussion on the topic can resolve the misunderstandings that have come to the fore on this.

Newly-inducted state minister for religious affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan on Sunday said there is a difference between a sculpture and idol, and sculptures are there in almost all the countries of the world.