Bangladesh police to take special security measures for Christmas

DHAKA – Bangladesh police administration will take special security measures for Christmas, the main religious festival of Christians in the Muslim-majority South Asian country.

On Dec. 17, the Bangladesh Police Chief gave this assurance during a discussion between law enforcement agencies and Christian leaders about Christmas and the Thirty-First Night.

“Christmas is a universal festival. The police are on alert around Christmas. With the capabilities of the Bangladesh Police, we will be able to celebrate Christmas and the Thirty-First Night in a peaceful environment,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam said during the meeting.

The police chief Alam said that if any person or group tries to destroy communal harmony by uploading misleading posts, comments or pictures on social media, the police will take immediate legal action against them. Cyber ​​monitoring will be strengthened to prevent rumors.

Christian leaders informed the police administration about the recent incidents of throwing crude bombs at least two churches and one educational institution in the country, and threatening educational institutions run by the Catholic Church through a letter named Tawhidee Muslim Janata “faithful Muslim people.”

Christian leaders told the administration that this year’s Christmas will be challenging compared to other years and security needs to be strengthened.

“We have told our concerns to the administration. We are particularly concerned about the recent cocktail explosions at religious institutions,” Nirmal Rozario, the President of the Bangladesh Christian Association, told Crux.

He said that since the election is coming up, a few groups may do something negative to Christians, and that is why we have drawn the attention of the police administration.

Catholic leaders have noticed a lot of activity in the police this year around the celebration of Christmas and the first night, and this time, law enforcement has increased surveillance compared to previous years.

Father Albert Rozario, the parish priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral in the capital, Dhaka, told Crux that we are more concerned about the security issue around Christmas this year, but the administration has assured us enough.

“The police chief has assured us of all kinds of security to celebrate Christmas in a festive atmosphere and we are also assured,” Rozario added.

Christians make up less than 1 percent of Bangladesh’s 180 million people and 90 percent are Muslims, the rest are Hindus and other religious minorities.

However, speaking to some members of the Catholic community from the rural area, they are more worried than happy about the upcoming Christmas.

Pradeep Mandal, 36, of the southern Khulna diocese, believes that if the law enforcement agencies take only showy security measures like in the past, it will not be useful.

“We are still thinking about whether we will take our children to church on the night before Christmas. Because we are afraid and apprehensive that some incident may occur on Christmas,” he told Crux.

The meeting on Dec. 17 was attended by senior police officials in Dhaka as well as police chiefs from the country’s 64 administrative districts also joined in virtually. Police chiefs in each district level have been instructed by the police headquarters to take maximum security measures on Christmas.

The meeting requested those concerned to ensure the security of churches in various parts of the country, including the recruitment of volunteers under the management of law enforcement agencies and organizers, and to ensure adequate lighting, standby generators or charger lights.