A case has been filed against Banhladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader and Supreme Court lawyer Shishir Manir, who is also a nomination aspirant from Sunamganj-2, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by commenting that “Ramadan and Puja are two sides of the same coin.”
A YouTube channel named DSN has also been made a defendant in the case.
Advocate Ridwan Hossain Robin, a member of the Dhaka Lawyers’ Association, submitted the petition to the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Joshita Islam on Sunday.
The court recorded the plaintiff’s statement and kept the order pending. In the afternoon, the court instructed the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police to investigate the matter and submit a report, according to Nazmul Talukdar, assistant to the court concerned.
The case stated that about 91% of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim, for whom religion and religious practices are highly sensitive matters. Muslims believe that Allah has no form, and they observe Ramadan to seek the pleasure of Allah, with rewards granted directly by Him. In contrast, followers of Hinduism in Bangladesh worship their gods and goddesses by giving them physical forms. The case argued that equating Ramadan with Puja in any example is unacceptable to the Muslim community and could create disorder and anxiety.
The petition further alleged that the statements made by Shishir Manir, and propagated by the DSN YouTube channel, directly hurt the religious beliefs and sentiments of Bangladesh’s Muslim population. It claimed that Manir deliberately used the platform to politically exploit religious sensitivities, noting in a video that “Ramadan and Puja are two sides of the same coin.”
According to the case, these statements not only hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims but also caused unrest among devout members of the community.
