Days after the arrest of spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, another Hindu priest was arrested in Chattogram, Bangladesh, sources said on Saturday. The arrested priest was identified as Shyam Das Prabhu, who had reportedly visited Chinmoy Krishna Das in jail.
Sources said he was arrested without an official warrant, a practice that allows authorities to detain someone and later release them.
ISKCON Kolkata vice-president and spokesperson Radharaman Das also posted about the monk’s arrest on X (formally Twitter) on Friday and said, “Another celibate Sri Shyam Das Prabhu was arrested by Chattogram Police today.”
Another celibate Shri Shyam Das Prabhu was arrested by the Chattogram Police today. #ISKCON #bangladesh#Save Bangladeshi Hindus pic.twitter.com/DTpytXRQeP
– Radharaman Das Radharaman Das (@RadharamnDas) 29 November 2024
Hindu Sadhu’s arrest and violence in Bangladesh
Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former member of Bangladesh’s International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested on Monday in sedition cases. His arrest triggered protests by members of the Hindu community at various places in Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka and Chattogram.
Chinmoy Krishna Das was denied bail by a Chattogram court on Tuesday, leading to clashes between police and protesters demanding his release. Assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam was killed in the clash.
Bangladesh Police have so far arrested nine people in connection with the lawyer’s murder, police said on Saturday. He was arrested after a case was registered against 46 people, mostly sanitation workers from the minority Hindu community.
Meanwhile, slogan-shouting mobs vandalized three Hindu temples on Friday in Chattogram, which has witnessed protests and violence after a former ISKCON member was booked under sedition charges.
The attack took place around 2:30 pm at Harish Chandra Munsef Lane in the port city, where Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, nearby Shoni Temple and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted, news portal BDNews24.com reported.
“A group of several hundred people shouting slogans threw bricks and stones at the temples, damaging the gates of the Shoni temple and two other temples,” the news portal quoted temple officials as saying.
Kotwali police station chief Abdul Karim confirmed the attack and said that the attackers tried to damage the temples.
Violence against minorities in Bangladesh
Chinmoy Krishna Das’s arrest comes amid tensions over minority rights in Bangladesh, which has seen widespread political violence since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the new military-backed interim government led by Mohammad Yunus has faced criticism for failing to stop a surge in violence against minorities.
About 8 percent of Bangladesh’s population of 170 million are Hindus.
Speaking on the issue of persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, Trimul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee asked the central government to take up the matter with its Bangladeshi counterpart in the “strongest manner”.
“I have made my stand clear that you have to follow the Constitution of the country and the state has no role in it. It is up to the central government to communicate this with the Bangladesh government in the strongest possible way or in the language they understand. Pick it up.” ,” He said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
