‘Relieved that Bangladesh court did not ban ISKCON but grave concern continues over atrocities on minorities’: Kolkata ISKCON vice president
The move came after the arrest of ISKCON Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das by Bangladesh police on Monday, allegedly for treason
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Vice president and spokesperson for ISKCON Kolkata, Radharamn Das holds a placard to protest the atrocities on religious minorities in Bangladesh. (Photo: Radharamn Das/X)The Dhaka High Court on Thursday refused to pass a suo moto order to ban the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh. A day before, a petitioner had appealed to the High Court for the ban and imposition of a state of emergency in the country’s Chittagong and Rangpur cities.
Vice president and spokesperson for ISKCON Kolkata, Radharamn Das, told The Indian Express, “We have got some relief and respite, however little… There are lakhs of bhakts, devotees, and hundreds of centres in Bangladesh… A ban would have meant a stop to all social and religious work.”
The decision, reportedly by a bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury, came after the arrest of ISKCON Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das by Bangladesh police on Monday, allegedly for treason. Das had been organising multiple rallies in Bangladesh to condemn alleged atrocities against minorities.
“Grave concerns remain,” said the vice president. “Yesterday a mob came to our Shibchar centre and gave the devotees an ultimatum to shut down. Later, police came and rescued our devotees. We saw in videos how the mob removed the signboard of the preaching centre,” he claimed.
“Minorities there (in Bangladesh) are scared for their lives. ISKCON is a bhakti movement and humanitarian organisation. Minorities took to the streets in peaceful protests because there was no other way. In the last few days, fundamentalist organisations have been labelling ISKCON as a terrorist organisation,” added Das.
Das shared a video of the incident on his X handle where he also shared pictures with a placard stating, “Don’t ban ISKCON Bangladesh. We are not terrorists.”
“We are appealing to the Bangladesh government to protect the minorities, be they Hindus, Christians, or Buddhists. This is a natural and basic prerequisite for a civil society and a democracy,” he said.
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