Hindus and Muslims visit an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga in Dashiar Chhara, in northern Bangladesh's Kurigram district. (Photo by Aminul Islam)
For the first time in three decades, Hindu residents in a former Indian border enclave in northern Bangladesh are celebrating the major festival of Durga Puja.
Hundreds of Muslims have also joined hands with the Hindus as part of festivities, which include a five-day feast from Oct. 19-23.
Dashiar Chhara, a cluster of 20 villages, is a former Indian border enclave in northern Bangladesh's Kurigram district. For decades, Dashiar Chhara and other enclaves on both sides of the border were stuck in a peculiar dispute: technically, its residents were citizens of one country, while being surrounded by the other.
With more than 7,000 residents, Dashiar Chhara is the largest of 111 former Indian border enclaves in Bangladesh. The former enclave officially joined Bangladesh on Aug. 11, when the two countries implemented a long-awaited plan to exchange the disputed territories.
"For the first time in three decades, we are celebrating Durga Puja here," said Pratap Chandra Barmon, 55, a Hindu resident of Dashiar Chhara. "This year, we have grand celebrations where Muslims and Hindus have taken part side by side and we are very happy."
The Durga Puja festival traces its origin to the 15th century. According to Hindu tradition, the feast honors the Hindu goddess Durga, who descended to Earth to save and protect mankind from oppression. Special prayers, rituals and celebrations mark the feast.
For Dashiar Chhara residents, the festival has taken on important cross-cultural elements. Hundreds of Muslim residents donated money and helped decorate two Puja mandaps, or canopies, in the former enclave.
The joint celebration of a religious festival by Hindus and Muslims is a testament to a long tradition of interreligious harmony in Bangladesh, says Golam Mustafa, a civil rights activist from Dashiar Chhara.
"No matter if we are Muslim or Hindu, we are brothers and sisters," said Mustafa, a Muslim and convener of the Civil Rights Coordination Committee. "We have lent our hands to some 500 Hindu brothers and sisters to celebrate the feast together."
Church officials in Dinajpur Diocese, which covers Kurigram, lauded the interreligious celebration.
"Interreligious harmony among Muslims and Hindus in Dashiar Chhara is a great example and it needs to replicate all over the country," said Father Albinus Tigga, convener of the interreligious dialogue commission in Dinajpur.
Muslims comprise about 90 percent of Bangladesh's 160 million people, while Hindus make up about 8 percent. Christians represent a small minority.
Until this year, India and Bangladesh's border dispute effectively rendered some 53,000 people stateless on both sides of the border.