District administrators ordered to maintain order at Sufi shrines

The order follows spate of vandalism at various shrines and religious sites

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has instructed district administrators to take measures to maintain peace and order at shrines.

“Several miscreants have been carrying out attacks on shrines in parts of Bangladesh to disrupt the law and order, which is a concern and unexpected,” the ministry said in a press release on Sunday.

As part of a long tradition, the followers have been performing devotion and pilgrimage considering shrines as burial grounds of saints and the dervishes, the statement read.

The deputy commissioners, or DCs, have been asked to take necessary measures to maintain peace and order and the movement of the devotees to the shrine, the release said, citing the order issued in a letter by the ministry.

The administrators have also been directed to take immediate action and inform the ministry if there is a threat regarding attacks on shrines in any district.

The directives come in the wake of the recent vandalisms at various shrines, including the ones of Hazrat Shahjalal and Hazrat Shah Paran in Sylhet; and religious establishments across the country over the past several days.