The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has demanded the immediate arrest of people allegedly involved in the desecration of a Hindu cremation ground in Kushtia, after photographs and videos of the incident circulated on social media.

The incident reportedly took place at Harinarayanpur Mahashmashan in Harinarayanpur Union of Kushtia Sadar Upazila.

In a statement, the Unity Council alleged that a group of people entered the cremation ground under the guise of holding a picnic, cooked and ate beef on the premises and took photographs while standing with shoes on funeral pyres and graves.

The incident has since been reported by several media outlets and widely circulated on social media.

The Unity Council condemned the incident, describing a cremation ground as a sacred site associated with Hindu funeral rites.

“Such heinous acts by extremists at Hindu places of worship, cremation grounds, graves or other religiously significant sites hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community and constitute a grave affront to its dignity,” the organisation said.

It said the desecration or ridicule of a sacred site belonging to any religious community was unacceptable.

“Protecting religious freedom and the religious dignity of every citizen is a constitutional and moral responsibility of the state,” the statement said.

The Unity Council urged the government and local administration to identify those seen in the photographs and videos, arrest them immediately and bring them to justice.

It also called on the government to strengthen security at places of worship, cremation grounds, burial sites and other religiously significant locations across Bangladesh.

There was no immediate statement from the local administration or police cited in the Unity Council statement.