Bangladeshi Hindus to cut Durga Puja expense to aid Rohingyas

Dhaka: In a humanitarian gesture, Hindus in Bangladesh Friday decided to cut the expenses of the upcoming Durga Puja to set up a fund to provide relief for the Rohingya refugees who poured into the country following the ethnic violence in Myanmar.

More than 420,000 Rohingyas, mostly Muslims, fled Myanmar's Rakhine State to evade atrocities which the United States. Reports suggest that the violence also forced some 800 Hindus in Rakhine State to take refuge in Bangladesh.

"Their mass exodus has unfolded a horrific humanitarian crisis (and so) we will stand by the persecuted refugees with assistance by saving during the Dugra Puja festival," general secretary of the apex Puja Celebration Council said.

He said puja celebration committees across Bangladesh had been asked to save to set up a fund to provide relief for the Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh has been overwhelmed by Rohingya Muslims since violence erupted in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar's Rakhine state on August 25.

The Rohingya are regarded as illegal immigrants in Myanmar.