Bring the vandals to book

Damages were caused to idols of goddess Durga at a temple and a house in Kamargaon union of Tanore upazila in Rajshahi on Friday night. Earlier, the Chittagong Metropolis Puja Observance Committee had registered protests with the local authorities over acts of profanity perpetrated by vicious trouble-mongers at different places. Some occurrences of similar nature were reported from Bagerhat. These incidents, even though stray, have been extremely disparaging and outrageous, especially given the fact that it's their greatest annual festival the Hindu community are in the midst of celebrating with traditional solemnity. It seems there was some hole in the security cover extended to the puja venues.

We know that in light of last few days' untoward occurrences that spawned panic, the government has beefed up the existing precautionary deployment of law and order personnel around the temples and puja mandaps. The district authorities must redouble their efforts to ensure that the isolated incidents do not develop into a pattern. The whole community should also be on guard to see that the traditional harmony in our society is not held hostage to the diabolical design of a minuscule minority.

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Those who are out to disrupt social equilibrium by creating tension and panic are the enemies of the society and must be dealt with accordingly. The authorities must get a move on to catch the culprits and strengthen the security arrangements thereby signaling a completely congenial atmosphere for the fellow citizens to observe the festivities smoothly.