ISKCON saint and Hindu religious leader in Bangladesh Chinmay Krishna Das Prabhu’s arrest from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Monday sparked tension not only among Bangladesh’s Hindu community but also in West Bengal.
Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said that Hindus would move towards the border check-points in the state and lay seize restricting Bangladeshi nationals from entering India.
According to reports of the intelligence wings, hundreds of men and women, without displaying flags of any political party, started marching towards Petrapole and Ghojadanga borders in North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday.
Sources in the intelligence bureau said Das, a leader of the Hindu Group Sammilata Sanatani Jote in Bangladesh who is also known as Chinmay Krishna, was slapped with sedition charges by the neighbouring country’s law enforcing agency and the local court denied him bail.
“Das was advocating for the rights of Hindus in Bangladesh amid relentless attack on the religious community since Sheikh Hasina’s regime was overthrown,” said an officer of the intelligence bureau.
Explaining Das's detention, Rezaul Karim Mallik, the spokesperson of the Bangladesh’s detective branch, said on Monday, “Das was detained in the line of a request from the regular police. He will be handed over to the concerned police station for subsequent legal procedure.”
Das was later charged with sedition.
In October, Das led a massive rally in Chittagong which the Bangladesh government treated as a violation of the country’s law. “The Bangladesh police registered a case against Das charging him for disrespecting the national flag of Bangladesh during the rally,” said an intelligence wing’s officer.
Das’s recent activism included organising rallies to demand justice for Hindus who have faced targeted attacks in Bangladesh. “He was trying to gather opinion of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh for better protection and equal treatment. His outspoken stance has made him not only a prominent figure but also popular among Hindus in Bangladesh,” the officer said.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said intelligence agencies on both foreign and domestic soils are keeping a close watch on the ongoing situation.
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