- Thursday, November 28, 2024
The Awami League leader said the Hindu spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das has been unjustly arrested, he must be released immediately
By: shajil kumar
DEPOSED prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Thursday condemned the arrest of Hindu spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das and said the leader must be released immediately.
Das who was taken into custody earlier this week on sedition charges.
“A top leader of the Sanatan religious community has been unjustly arrested, he must be released immediately,” Hasina said in a statement.
“A temple has been burnt in Chittagong. Previously, mosques, shrines, churches, monasteries and homes of the Ahmadiyya community were attacked, vandalised and looted and set on fire. Religious freedom and security of life and property of people of all communities should be ensured,” the former prime minister said in the statement posted on Awami League’s X account.
Hasina fled to India on August 5 following widespread protests against her Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system. Three days later, Yunus, a Nobel laureate, took over as the Chief Adviser of the interim government.
Hindu minority groups have been frequently reporting atrocities against their community members in different parts of Bangladesh, even after Yunus took charge.
ISKCON chief’s concerns
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Bangladesh is being targeted by fundamentalists because of its efforts to unite the persecuted Hindu community and resist forced conversions, the religious group’s chief said on Thursday.
In a telephonic interview with PTI from Dhaka, the ISKCON’s chief in Bangladesh Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari expressed relief over the High Court’s decision, rejecting demands to ban the organisation’s activities in the country.
“No government would ever agree to such demands from extremists as we are a peaceful organisation,” he said, welcoming the High Court’s order as evidence of this.
Bangladesh High Court on Thursday rejected a petition seeking a ban on ISKCON’s activities in the country.
Das Brahmachari called the verdict a validation of the organisation’s peaceful and humanitarian efforts.
The senior monk painted a grim picture of the current situation for minorities in Bangladesh, particularly Hindus, describing their lives as being filled with fear.
“Fundamentalists are attacking ISKCON because we are standing in the way of their agenda to instil fear and force Hindus into conversion,” he said.
Das Brahmachari emphasised that ISKCON Bangladesh has consistently promoted unity and harmony, steering clear of any form of conflict, communal or otherwise.
