Lagatar24 Desk
Dhaka, Dec.17: President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the restored Sri Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka on Friday, 50 years after it was demolished by Pakistani forces in 1971, and characterised the temple as a symbol of India-Bangladesh cultural and spiritual cooperation.
President Kovind is visiting Bangladesh on the invitation of his counterpart, M Abdul Hamid, to join the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh’s liberation from Pakistan in the 1971 Liberation War.
The President along with First Lady Savita Kovind offered prayers at the rebuilt temple. In 1971, the Pakistani Army’s ‘Operation Searchlight,’ which was aimed at the country’s resistance movement, completely destroyed the temple.
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates the renovated Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/WT1NHDEoLW
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) December 17, 2021
Pakistani army set fire to the shrine, killing numerous people, including worshipers and those who lived there. The renovation of the temple was backed by India.
“This morning, I went to the historic Ramna Kali temple where I had the privilege of inaugurating the renovated temple. I look at it as a blessing from Maa Kali,” the president said while addressing the Indian community after inaugurating the temple.
“I have been told that the governments and the people of Bangladesh and India helped in restoring the temple which was demolished by the Pakistani forces during the war of liberation,” President Kovind said.
A large number of people were killed by the occupation forces, he said. This temple is the symbol of the cultural and spiritual bonding among the people of India and Bangladesh, the President said. “This marks an auspicious finale to my visit to Bangladesh,” he added.
Hindus make up around 10% of the Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s 169 million population.
