Easter in Bangladesh needs government protection

Easter celebrations for the Catholics of Bangladesh had to be conducted under the watchful eye of government security forces to protect worshippers from religious violence.

Over 300,000 people took part in Sunday Mass in Dhaka and in the five dioceses of Bangladesh. Catholics in Bangladesh make up only 1.1 per cent of a population of 150 million.

All celebrations needed to be monitored for 24 hours of the day for fear of attacks.

Police official, Abu Sayed, told AsiaNews, "All over the country there is the same scenario, the people are worshiping in the temples, mosque and churches under police security."

He said that during special religious events such as Easter extra security is provided, but he added that “we are unable to guarantee the security of the people in everyday life".

The number of people taking part in Easter events this year was surprisingly high, given that Easter is not a public holiday in Bangladesh and that there continues to be religious tension in the country.

The auxiliary bishop of Dhaka, Theotonius Gomes, said the high turnout reflected a shared desire for harmony. He said, "The resurrection reflects the message of unity and peace, in facing all the failure Christ is the only shining light of hope."

Kazi Nurul Islam, dean of the department of religious studies at the University of Dhaka, said that more inter-religious dialogue is needed to help overcome tension in the country. "We need to help people to know the religions more, and that will begin to overcome the religious hatred and violence."