The arrest that led an entire country to explode in anger

Md. Yunus's interim government of Bangladesh had arrested the spokesperson of Bangladesh's Sanatoni Jagoran Jot, Chinmay Krishna Das Brahmachari at the Dhaka airport in the afternoon of 25 November. The principal of Iscon's Pundorik Dham, Chinmay Krishna's immediate release demand had led lakhs and lakhs of minority Hindus at Chinmay Krishna's birthplace Chittagong and Dhaka's prominent place Shahbag to demonstrate their anger and frustrations at this unjust act of the government. The news of minority populations' ceaseless demonstrations had come from all corners of Bangladesh. In the night, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the workers of Islami Chhatro Shibir ( Islamic Students Union) tortured a few minority protestants at the Shahbag, the complaint came. Islamic fundamentalists of Bangladesh had also attacked the Jagannath Hall of Dhaka and Rangpur district.

Since the last public uprising that saw the dethroning of the erstwhile Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, continuous complaints and allegations were being raised against the Muslim fundamentalists' continuous oppression on the minority Hindus of Bangladesh. Some religious groups together had established Sanatoni Jagoran Mancha addressing whose call, lakhs and lakhs of minority Hindus of Bangladesh had gathered at the Shahid Minar of Dhaka, Laldighi Maidan of Chittagong and on 22 November at Rangpur.

There as the spokesperson of Sanatoni Jagoran Mancha, Chinmay Krishna Das had announced that,

1. The Hindu family law had to be amended to the constitution of Bangladesh.
2. The fundamental right and the security surrounding the profession and livelihood of the minority Hindus must be amended to the constitution.
3. Else, the minorities of Bangladesh would not abide by any further amendment of the constitution.

On the 13 December at Khulna and 20 December at Borishal, the Jagoran Mancha had called for grand public meetings. On the 22 December Chinmay Krishna Das had expressed his apprehension that in retaliation to his efforts to unify the minorities, a conspiracy to arrest him was brewing up. On the occasion of the Chittagong meeting, along with the other places at Cheragi Point, someone had raised a saffron flag at the flag stand of Bangladesh's national flag. Reporting that incident a leader of the BNP had filed a case of sedition against Chinmay Krishna Das. BNP on the very next day had boycotted that leader but the Bangladesh police continued with that case proceedings. In the afternoon of 25 November, while entering the Dhaka airport on his way to Chittagong, Chinmay Krishna Das Brahmachari got surrounded by a group of people who claimed themselves as detective police and forcefully took Chinmay Krishna inside a black car. Later on, Bangladesh police officially informed that Chinmay Krishna Das was arrested on the charge of seditious activities against Bangladesh government.

But Bouddho Christian Oikko Parishad (Buddhist, Christian United Committee) said the arrest of Chinmay Krishna Das would be detrimental for humanitarian image of Bangladesh, especially on the ground of disobeying freedom of speech. According to the Puja Udjapan Porishad ( Puja Celebration Committee) of Bangladesh, it was not against the government but the 53-year-old religious discrimination addressing which Chinmay Krishna Das had started his movement. The other minority groups of Bangladesh had also demanded immediate release of Chinmay Krishna Das. As soon as the news of his arrest became public, thousands and thousands of protesters started demonstration at the Cheragi point of Chittagong and at the Shahbag of Dhaka. The mass demonstration continued at Khulna, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Thakurgaan, Jessore and Barishal.

From 24 November several public unrest had kept Dhaka on the boiling point. Following the death of an eleventh standard student, a group of students had ransacked the concerned hospital. Later a wild mob had attacked and looted the Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College, Mohorwardi College and Kavi Nazrul College. Examinations were going on then. Laboratories were destroyed completely. Strangely enough, inspite of the college authorities' repeated call for help neither the police nor the army showed up. A procession of the Islamic fundamentalists had made it’s rounds demanding the ouster of democracy from Bangladesh and the establishment of Islamic state system. The extremists had taken the office of a highly reputed Bengali and English daily under seize, the whole day long. In the night although police had warded them off but from the morning of 25 November they again blockaded the office.

Monk's arrest begins clashes

On 26 November the minorities of Chittagong had erupted in protests against the attack on them carried by the extremist organizations, Jamat- e-Islamic and Hefazat-e-Islam. These unrests had already created their respective repercussions in India. Delhi had expressed a strong statement and the BJP had started its movements in different corners of Bengal. "Over 10000 Hindus had gathered at the CMM Court where our client was produced today.... They were already agitated with his arrest and their patience ran out after the monk was denied bail. Soon, a clash broke out," according to a member of the legal team representing Chinmay Krishna Das. According to the accounts of several eyewitnesses, the court became a battlefield between the minority members surrounding the police van carrying Chinmay Krishna Das to the jail and the police. "A clash broke out between the police and our supporters as stones were hurled... The police fired tear gas shells, lobbed sound grenades and beaten our supporters with batons. Jamaat and Hefazat supporters also joined the cops in assaulting our supporters," according to a minority supporter of Chittagong city. A lawyer from Jamaat camp named Saiful Islam Alif was killed in the clash, which ignited the anger against Hindus and started attacks from all around the minority from 25 November afternoon. "We are under attack and don't know what will happen in the night as the police in our country have stopped taking action against the Islamists," according to a close ally of Chinmay Krishna.

A well known Hindu leader of Bangladesh had asked the government of India to take up this emergency matter with the interim government of Bangladesh. Because according to the inside reports the attack on Hindus would cross the boundaries of Chittagong city and its outskirts, home to 25 lakh Hindus and spread over other minority populated states like Rangpur and Dhaka." The atrocities on minorities had been continuing since the time of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It peaked during the rule of the army dictators who ran the country till 1991 and the BNP Jamaat regime (1991 - '96 and 2001-'06)," according to the veteran Hindu leader.

The meteoric rise of Chinmay Krishna Das

"The Hindus overwhelmingly supported Sheikh Hasina's Awami League but even her party leaders oppressed us," according to an insider. Since the ouster of Hasina, the fear of attack had increased in the mind of the Hindu because of the collapse of the democratic order and the rise of the Islamist power. In a situation like this, the sudden rise of Chinmay Krishna Das Brahmachari had been a bolt from the blue for the Islamist fundamentalists. He established Sammilita Sanatoni Jagoran Joti that had already surpassed Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity in popularity as the only voice of the minorities. As most of the leaders hid after the Hasina's fall , Chinmay Krishna continued with his rallies and meetings despite being warned about sedition charges. "His rallies drew tens of thousands of people .... He encouraged the Hindus to put up a fight instead of running away to India . He reminded the Hindus that the country also belonged to them," according to a person known to Chinmay Krishna for 15 years. " Das is revered by a section of Muslim as well because of his work and eloquence .... The success of his meetings and fearless attitude probably rattled the regime and that's why he was arrested," said the person. According to Bangladesh's own observation this arrest would put Md. Yunus's government in more complications since the rest of the world had started noticing of the rise of the new Islamists power in Bangladesh.

India reacts, Bangladesh replies

India's reaction, "We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jot. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities .... There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples ." Further , the foreign ministry wrote, this is very unfortunate that the responsible persons for these atrocities were roaming free. And lawful measures were being taken against that spiritual leader who was holding peaceful meetings. We were very disturbed after noticing that the Hindus peacefully protesting against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, were being attacked. In response to India's reaction, on "a matter concerning internal affairs of Bangladesh" , the foreign affairs ministry of the neighbouring country had passed a media release, "It is with utter dismay and deep sense of hurt that the Government of Bangladesh notes that the arrest of Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been misconstrued by certain quarters since Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been arrested on specific charges ." The government also issued that "such unfounded statements not only misrepresent facts but also contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries." Bangladesh foreign ministry also went further saying, the unity between the communities of different religions that Bangladesh had and the sincere efforts that Bangladesh government takes to maintain that unity were completely overlooked by Indian government in their statement. The government of India didn't recognise in their statement, the Bangladesh government' s sincere steps to stop any kind of breach of human rights and their efforts to bridge the gulf between the minorities and majority communities of Bangladesh. The BJP administration of Bengal that shared 3200 km border with Bangladesh, had planned for a blockade of the office of Bangladesh Deputy High Commission office in Kolkata in condemnation against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the constant torture on the Hindu minority of Bangladesh.

In the second week of December, a foreign ministry's secretariat level meeting between India and Bangladesh was about to take place. India's foreign secretary Vikram Misry would visit Dhaka to take part in that meeting. In that meeting the issue of oppression on Bangladeshi Hindu community would take precedence according to the plan of the south block. Before that the controversy surrounding the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das became a weapon for Delhi to create extra pressure on Bangladesh, according to the Indian diplomatic camp. This was clear to the high level leadership of BJP that they could not interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign state. Still on this issue they wanted to create a pressure on Bangladesh on the international level.

West Bengal BJP administration had become concerned about this matter. On 26 November the state president of Bengal BJP and the minister of state, Sukanto Majumder had met the Foreign Minister of State, Pabitra Margherita to deliberate on this issue. Later he gave statement, "She has assured me that an international pressure will be created on Bangladesh government regarding the freedom of Chinmoy Krishna Das." In his social media post of 26 November, Sukanto Majumder wrote, "I had a discussion with Iskcon's public relations head, Yudhisthir Govinda Das regarding the unlawful arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the plight of the Hindus in Bangladesh, at the Delhi office." The prominent leader of BJP's Bengal brigade, Suvendu Adhikari asked for a meeting with the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner on 27 November. According to him, "Positive or negative reply, I am going to meet him. We will take his office under siege. All BJP MLAs will go. If things don't get settled within the next Sunday, the BJP MLA of Bongaon will start the blockade of the Petrapole border.” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singvi has posted on social media, "The arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das only opens up the break down of Bangladesh's law and order situation. This has become evident that Bangladesh is no longer in the hands of any government but fundamentalist organisations."

Chinmoy Krishna in jail. Advocate dies in Battleground Chittagong

After taking him to Chittagong from Dhaka in the afternoon of 26 November, Chinmay Krishna Das was produced at the court . The magistrate had sent him to jail after rejecting his plea for bail. Immediately the Chittagong court compound had turned into a battleground. After lobbing sound grenade and tear gas, the police had injured many protesting minorities with baton. And an advocate got killed under mysterious circumstances. Attempt was made to create tension with spreading the rumour that the supporters of Chinmoy Krishna had committed this murder. Following which the workers of Jamayet Islamic, Hefajat – e - Islam and BNP had attacked the protesting minorities. Two prayer temples were attacked. In the night the Harijan shanty was set on fire. On 27 November in the city session judges court, Chinmoy Krishna's counsel again would plead for bail. Many international organisations had expressed their serious concern over this unrest in Bangladesh. In Britain under the leadership of David Lamy, a group of British MPs had submitted a report on the increasing atrocities of Muslim extremists in Bangladesh. After the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the report of two thousand incidents of minority torture by Islamic extremists had been included in that report. More importantly it had been clearly mentioned that Muslim fundamentalists of Bangladesh were misusing their law and order system as a vital weapon of revenge. In that report the British government had been advised to ask Commonwealth and other international humanitarian organizations to take necessary action in this matter.

On 25 November, after rejecting the bail plea of Chinmoy Krishna Das when the Chittagong court sent him to jail, the counsel for Chinmoy Krishna had appealed for another hearing for his bail plea in another court. But Chittagong court remained ignorant to that prayer. While Chinmoy was taken inside a police van, thousands of his supporters had surrounded the van. Few protesters had even laid in front of the prison van. They even leaked tires of the van . Almost for two hours the blockade continued. After that police started attacking the protesters in every possible way. 7 persons were hospitalised with wounds on their head from batton charge. 30 protesters were treated for injuries and sent home. Afterwards Chinmay swamy was taken to jail in another car. From inside the van Chinmay Krishna told, their movement was not against any state or any government . Since the inception of Bangladesh, the tortures that were being inflicted on the Hindu minorities, the protest was against that age old injustice, "after my incarceration also, I would like the minorities to continue their non - violent protest," said Chinmay swamy. But the Yunus administration and their associates, Jamayet Islami and BNP had identified these series of incidents as the united conspiracy of national and international organisations. According to the Vice Chairman of BNP, Nitai Chowdhury, "All these incidents are part of the larger conspiracy to unrest Bangladesh that is slowly moving towards stability. Still I don't see any reason for the minorities to panic. BNP has advised the government to ensure the safety and security for them. And the process is under way.” Amir Shofikur Rahman of Jamayet Islami had advised all Bangladeshi to remain calm while confronting this conspiracy. The dead advocate was a member of his party, Shofikur demanded. Bangladesh foreign ministry had stated the government was overseeing the security matter of the minority communities.

Bangladesh radicals increase hostilities. Opposition parties voice concern

The political and diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh had increased in the course of escalating violence, garnered by the Bangladeshi radicals. More interestingly the opposition parties had also voiced their serious concerns over the gradual worsening of the minorities conditions. And in doing so they had extended their support to the Indian government. But the Yunus administration had discarded all these claims as absolute rubbish. The government had foul mouthed Indian government and demanded to ban Iskcon to which Chinmay Krishna Das was attached until very recently. "Some elements in the new regime want to hamper the relationship that we built with India over the years. I hope they fail in their mission," said a former minister of the Hasina government who was a central committee member of the Awami League. He also said, "There may be anti - India feelings in some quarters, but the majority of people are upset with the interim government for ruining the relationship with India.”

Anti Discrimination Students Movement convener Hasnat Abdullah and July Shaheed Smriti Foundation general secretary, Sarjis Alam led the anti - India movement among other leaders who had held India responsible for the Hindu uprising in Bangladesh following the arrest of priest Chinmoy Krishna Das. They also pointed their fingers at Iskcon for propagating the death of the lawyer Saiful Islam Alif on the CMM court premise in Chittagong during the tremendous upheaval following the rejection of Chinmay Krishna's bail. Nahid Islam, another student leader and an information advisor to the Yunus administration accused India for it's "unwarranted interference" that intended to ignite more trouble. Former Indian foreign secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who did his stint as the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka said, "It is becoming increasingly evident that radical elements within the interim government are trying to work behind the scenes to pursue an agenda that is detrimental to India.... The environment is steadily deteriorating ( in Bangladesh) and may deteriorate further." He thinks the constant hostilities towards the minorities since the fall of the Hasina government on 5 August had bred the air of intolerance that is corroding the secular atmosphere of Bangladesh. " Not only the Jamaat - e - Islami but also the Hizb - Ul - Tahrir, the Jamaat - Ul - Mujaheedin, Bangladesh wing and other elements that identify with Al Qaida and the Islamic State which want to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Bangladesh, are taking control of the administration directly and indirectly," said Shringla. Ground reports from Chittagong reverberated Shringla's words. The Hindu families of that state had spent a sleepless night on 26 November amid the terror of combing operation by the police, army and other law enforcers. According to a close aide of Chinmoy Krishna Das, "At least five temples and 100 houses were vandalised and ten houses were burnt by the Islamists. Over 400 people were injured in the attacks by the Islamists and about 100 of them are grievously hurt. About 30 youths were picked up for their alleged role in the clashes on the court premises where the lawyer died." This close associate of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other residents of Chittagong and an academic from Dhaka together, had brought this truth to the limelight that the videos capturing the violence at the CMM court premise of Chittagong and it's surrounding areas proved that the followers of Chinmoy Krishna had absolutely nothing to do with the death of the advocate Saiful Islam Alif. According to a source, present at the court premise during that upheaval, "The radicals in the government are creating a narrative against India, Hinduism and Iskcon which have become synonymous, to keep the youths on the streets in an agitated state .... That's why they are blaming the Hindus and Iskcon for the killing and linking India to the incident. This is a conspiracy." The kind of provocative comments Hasnat and Sarjis and senior leaders of Jammat - E - Islami and other radical leaders had made in the gathering of the lawyer's funeral made the main thing clear. They wanted this riot and oppression against the Hindus to continue in full swing. According to the source Chinmay Krishna Das's supporters were unarmed in the court, "They did not carry any arms .... The Islamists were carrying arms and we were under attack from them and also the law enforcers. We are living in fear as law and order has collapsed," said he.

Most unfortunately the mainstream Bangladesh media had totally ignored the decaying livelihood of Hindu minorities since the collapse of the Hasina government. But the pathetic plight of the Bangladeshi Hindus had snowballed into an issue of international concern, especially it had stirred the water on political ground in India, more specifically in West Bengal. On 27 November, Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had conducted a rally to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner's office and submitted a memorandum demanding the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the assurance regarding the security of the Bangladeshi Hindus. He also made strong appeals to the central government to stop issuing visas to the Bangladesh majority community. He also warned of putting an embargo on the supply of essential items to Bangladesh. Pointing to the India - Bangladesh foreign office consultation in Dhaka about to be held next month between Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri and his Bangladeshi counterpart Jashim Uddin, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, "Our government has issued a statement and highlighted the pertinent issues , but statements are the tip of the iceberg .... A lot of engagement behind the scenes is needed. India must proactively work and use whatever leverages we have to the best of our interest." According to Shringla, the list of interests Indian government had made included, the stability of Bangladesh, the safety of the minorities and India's security concerns.

Case filed to ban Iskcon

Amid the controversy surrounding the unnatural death of an advocate, a case had been filed in Bangladesh High Court to ban Iskcon as an extremist group. After accepting the case the High Court asked for the government opinion. Based on a baseless rumour that pointed towards Iskcon for the 26 November murder of an advocate on Chittagong CMM Court compound, a conspiracy had been brewing to ban Iskcon in Bangladesh, according to many prudent persons on both sides of the border. Many organisations in Bangladesh had urged the government to ban Iskcon. On 26 November, following the death of the advocate, other advocates boycotted the court. In the session court also there was no proceedings. That's why the bail petition of Chinmoy Krishna was not heard. On 28 November a cease work had been announced. 29th and 30th wee holidays. On Sunday the BNP - supporter advocates of Chittagong court would hold a demonstration . Chinmoy Krishna would have to spend these days in jail.

But in relation to the murder of advocate Saiful Islam, 6 persons had been detained so far, according to the advisory member of the Yunus administration. The police hadn't disclosed those persons' political identity. Chittagong police had arrested 30 persons in the mayhem of 26 November. Cases had been filed against almost 500 persons. Surprisingly, the 53 advocates who had appeared in the Chittagong court defending Chinmoy Krishna on 26 November, had been charged guilty in these cases. Most of these lawyers had gone underground in the fear of getting arrested. Most of the minority people were charged in these cases, according to the lawyers. They said, following the rules of Bangladesh it is not possible to charge anyone on sedition ground without the written authorisation from Bangladesh government . On that ground this sedition case against Chinmoy Krishna based only on the appeal of a BNP leader, was completely illegal. A religious leader was being compelled to serve in jail unjustly.

On 27 November a statement had been issued on behalf of Iskcon, Bangladesh, to carry out impartial investigation of the murder of advocate Saiful Islam and punish the actual culprits. It had also been mentioned that Iskcon had no affiliation with the Sanatoni Jagoran Mancha. On 26 November Iskcon had issued a statement in support of Chinmoy Krishna Das's right to free speech and human rights. But they had not mentioned him as their legitimate monk. Rather according to them, following Chinmoy Krishna's several controversial comments in the past, Iskcon had severed it's association with him.

"Yunus on revenge", the report submitted in the British parliament, MPs concerned

A multi - party group in the House of Commons of the British parliament , All Party Parliamentary Group For The Commonwealth had expressed their concern over the prevailing situation in Bangladesh . They had sent a report on this to the foreign affairs minister David Lammy. It was said in the report, the fall of Sheikh Hasina government had brought "hope and joy " for many. But under this new regime, so far 2000 incidents of violence and hatred had been booked. Md. Yunus’ interim government was using the judicial system as their ultimate weapon to fulfill their revenge, the report said. APPG had further said, "the kind of evidence we have received have put the usefulness of this government under question. The use of the law and order system as a political weapon must be stopped immediately. Else that will become very detrimental for the image of the Yunus administration." According to India's diplomatic camp, this letter from British parliament was meaningful and was of great help to south block at this point when India was trying to unify foreign opinions against the atrocities of Bangladesh and trying to create an international pressure on it . The details of the recent oppressions on minorities were in that report. It had been said, the evidences of the tortures on religious and other minorities under the new rule had been recieved. In different places in different ways. There's a huge difference between the Bangladesh news media reports and the actual incidents. "In answer to our query, the Bangladesh Hindu association has clearly said their people are being identified and tortured. This year between 4 to 10 August the number of violent incidents on the Hindu minorities has been 2010. These include, murder, torture on women, looting and forceful confiscation of property." In Barak and Tripura in India there had been protest activities demanding the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das.

Bangladesh High Court refuses banning Iskcon. Hasina appeals for the release of the Hindu priest

In a very diplomatic move the Bangladesh High Court had bypassed the onus of banning Iskcon and handed over the entire authority to the interim government to do the same. Sheikh Hasina had made her voice heard while condemning the injustice with Chinmay Krishna as "unjustly arrested" and making an appeal for his immediate release. She also had requested the new government to protect the safety of the minorities. She appealed to the court to investigate the killing of advocate Alif and sentence the culprits. The comments of Sheikh Hasina, who was in an Indian safe house since August 5, was published on the official page of the Awami League's Facebook page and her comments were like reverberation of Indian government's remarks. Further she has said MD. Yunus "has taken over the power in an unconstitutional way. They are showing their inefficiencies in every way. They have failed to control the skyrocketing of the prices of essential commodities. They have failed to secure common people's lives." Hasina went on, "After the massacre of the leaders and workers of Awami League, many students, ordinary people and members of the law and order and legislative sections, people of Bangladesh are getting harassed by invasions, illegitimate false cases and unjust arrests. I am strongly protesting against this anarchism. In Chittagong, Hindu temples were set on fire . Before, temples, mosques, churches, shrines, monasteries alongwith the residential properties of Ahmadia sect had been ransacked, looted and set on fire. The religious freedom for people of all sects of belief and the security of their life and honour will have to be ensured. I condemn these direct and indirect oppressions on ordinary people..... I am calling out to the citizens of my country, all of you stand united against all these terrorism and militancy ." On the choices that the Yunus government were left with , a Bangladeshi legal expert said, "The government can invoke the Anti - Terrorism Act, 2009 and ban any organisation that it considers terror outfit .... It remains to be seen how it responds to the demand." According to the experts on Bangladesh political scenario, the government's decision would depend on two conflicting matters. First, the kind of pressure the government's associated extremists groups, Anti - Discrimination Students Movement and the Islamists , put on it to force the ban on Iskcon. Second, how Dhaka could foresee New Delhi's reaction after the ban was imposed. On 27 November, student leader Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah openly proclaimed they wouldn't allow Iskcon to implement "Delhi's agenda in Bangladesh" and demanded immediate ban. The leaders even blamed Iskcon in having a direct hand in the killing of advocate Alif. Several lawyer organizations along with Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat - e - Islami pressurised the government to call Iskcon a terrorist outfit. A senior journalist who lost his job after the change of power in last August said, "The student leaders are the main pillars of the government .... Nor can Yunus afford to ignore the BNP and the Jamaat as these organisations provide him political legitimacy to run the country. Can he ignore them ?"

For Indian diplomatic community, the ban on Iskcon, the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and unceasing torture on the Hindu minorities, together had made it a larger point of serious concern. A highly sensitive issue like Hindu - Muslim conflict if not properly handled could affect the ethnic politics of India seriously that could create havoc in the upcoming elections. The external affairs minister S. Jaishankar met prime minister Modi on 27 November. Jaishankar had presented the details of the Bangladesh situation in parliament on 28 November. On this point a Bangladeshi academician had expressed his serious concern, "The developments since the monk's arrest in our country have triggered serious reactions in India .... The Modi government has reacted strongly and the opposition parties are on the same page. Banning Iskcon will not go down well with India. Can Yunus afford to walk that path ?" A lawyer supposed to be close to the Yunus government had appealed to the high court on 26 November to ban Iskcon. But the government is in a dilemma on how to execute the process. This confusion was evident in high court where the issue was raised in the morning of 27 November. According to a high court lawyer, in reply to high court's query about the necessary steps the government had taken to activate the ban, the secretary general of Bangladesh, Md. Asaduzzaman had replied vaguely, "Although Iskcon is a fundamentalist organisation. Still their banning has to be considered as a political decision on behalf of the government. It doesn't feel any necessity to do so through the high court." "They only said the government was giving the matter highest priority and that three cases had been filed in connection with the lawyer's death and 33 people had been arrested . There was no elaboration on the charge of terrorism against Iskcon, levelled by government insiders," said the lawyer explaining the reason why the high court put back the responsibility of the matter on the government.

On 28 November, in Sherpur, a group of religious fanatics named, Touhidi Janata had destroyed and set fire to the durbar and the mosque of Murshid peer. They had looted money alongwith cows and bisons. After the Yunus government came to the power their supporter fundamentalists were destroying the shrines and arenas of sufis, peers and troubadours. Mainly because these sectors of beliefs belonged to the non - violent sectors. All the troubadour cultural festivals and Sufi gatherings had been closed down following severe threats. In the night of 27 November the Shibchar Iskcon temple of Madaripur had been marauded and destroyed. Three monks of that temple had been beaten and banished from the area. On the same day two monks had brought prasad to feed Chinmay Krishna in jail . They were arrested in the Chittagong jail without any court case. Meanwhile the process had been started to freeze the bank account of Iskcon. On one hand, from the Jamayet Islami party's Amir Shofikur Rahman to the principal advisory of the government of MD. Yunus were extending the appeal for "friendship on the basis of respect and equality " with India. And on the other hand, in various higher study institutions of Dhaka, the student leaders are showing a virulent anti - India sentiment. On a social media post at the entrance of an engineering college of Bangladesh the Indian national flag had been drawn on the ground in such a way that to enter and exit the college every person would have to put his feet on that flag.

Delhi's strong message to Dhaka

On 28 November, at the Rajyasabha session of parliament the foreign minister of state in a strong message had warned Dhaka about the oppression on minorities. He had made it clear that maintaining safety and security of the minority communities were the sole responsibility of Bangladesh government and they better ensure that. According to the informed circles of the upper level, Bangladesh was dependent on India regarding it's economy and export of essential commodities . How they accepted the message of India and whether they continued following this ongoing path ignoring India's message were things to watch out for. Before confirming the date of the December meeting between the foreign ministry of two countries, India government wanted to observe to which direction of the present situation moved . But the worrying fact was that a team of 15 Jamayet Islami members had gone to meet the communist party leaders of China replying to their invitation. Today the foreign minister of state, Kirti Vardhan had said in her parliament address, "For the past few months the continuous reports of destroying Hindu temples and idols were coming. Special mentions had to be made regarding the attack on the Tantibazar Durga Puja at Dhaka and the loot of the Jashoreswari Kali temple of Saatkheera. The central minister Giriraj Singh clearly said the injustices with the Hindu minorities of Bangladesh proved that their government was walking with the help of "fundamentalist crutch". Before, in response to the Indian foreign ministry’s concern over the rejection of Chinmoy Krishna Das's bail, the Bangladesh government strongly replied, that was a strictly internal matter. It didn't befit a country to interfere in that. The present situation had become embarrassing for Modi, because the oppositions had also started pressurizing, especially Congress. Today the ex - foreign minister of state and the Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "The matter is extremely embarrassing and horrible too because Bangladesh is our opposite neighbour. We are concerned with their well being. Not only the foreign ministry, the entire India is keeping a constant watch over the matter."

Bangladesh had mentioned all these statements of India as duplicity . The law advisor of the interim government, Asif Nazrul in his post on social media claimed, everyday in India the minority Muslims got tortured. But Indian government had no repentance or shame regarding that. Moreover, they were giving unwanted advices about Bangladeshi minorities to us. This duplicity of India was highly reprehensible . With that Dhaka complained that in the Indian news media, heaps of fake, purported news about the ongoing situation of Bangladesh were doing constant rounds. Md. Yunus's press secretary Shofikul Alam requested the Bangladesh news media to confront these lies with truth. Indian foreign minister S. Jayshankar said , "From the August of 2024 the news of constant torture on the Hindu and other minorities in Bangladesh are coming to us. Their homes and properties, business places, shops, temples and shrines; all came under attack. The Indian High commission in Dhaka is keeping a constant vigil on the entire situation ." India had made its stand clear on 29 November. It had no intention to inflict any damage on Bangladesh economy. Essential commodities exchange transactions would continue as usual. Any economic depredation on Bangladesh would be disturbing for India since the country shared the longest border area with Bangladesh.

Bangladesh government freezes the bank accounts of 17 persons, close to Iskcon

The Bangladesh government passed the order to freeze the bank accounts of 17 people connected to Iskcon, including Chinmay Krishna Das. The finance detective department of Bangladesh Bank had issued directives to freeze those accounts for the next 30 days. This was to create extra pressure the protesting minorities, especially Hindus. The protest against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the oppression on Hindus of Bangladesh had started from different corners of the western world. The former commissioner of the religious freedom commission of America, Johnny Moore claimed MD. Yunus was failing. There was not a single minority community in Bangladesh who was not feeling insecure. "This is not only related to the minorities, but the entire Bangladesh is suffering from this existential crisis. He claimed that the world's entire Christian community is with Chinmoy Krishna Das. On the night of 29 November the marauding crowd attacked three Hindu religious places in Chittagong. British MP Bob Blackman said, "At Elstree in Britain, Iskcon runs Bhakti Vedanta Manor." On 28 November the Bangladesh deputy high commission of Kolkata has condemned the violent protests of Bongeeyo Hindu Jagoran. According to their complaint, "After breaking the police barricades the protesters reached near the commission. There they set fire to the Bangladesh national flag and MD. Yunus's effigy. Dhaka has requested Delhi to prevent this kind of incidents and protect the safety of Bangladesh's diplomatic missions.” As the result of the traditional Hindu protest, the import, export with Bangladesh has come to a standstill at Manu Land Custom station at the Unkoti district, Tripura . The businessmen there had sought the help of Delhi. They said, they too supported the movement against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. But since the business is going on through other check posts, what was the reason to stop the business dealings through Manu Land Custom Station ?

Sangh increases activities in North Bengal border - side villages

Since the increase of unrest in Bangladesh, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh had also increased their activities in the border area villages of North Bengal. On one hand Sangh was opening up one - teacher schools. On the other hand Sangh's " Shimanto Chetona Mancha" had been teaching the women stitching and sanctioning loans at low interests to the men of limited means. Sangh was taking these initiatives to prevent the change of Indian demographics in the Bangladesh border area. A section of BJP leadership had also supported these initiatives . According to them out of any terror attack , resulting by the current situation in Bangladesh, if the India border demographics got destroyed, that will be very detrimental for India. From Coach Bihar to Malda state , India had the longest boundary in this portion with Bangladesh. Until recently only Sheemanto Chetona Mancha used to work in this section. But since the beginning of Bangladesh conflicts, Sangh had deployed several organisations, like Bishwa Hindu Parishad, Bidya Bharti and Sahokari Bharti. And Sheemanto Chetona Mancha was coordinating their activities. What was the necessity of these sudden initiatives? In answer, the End President of Sheemanto Chetona Mancha, North Bengal, Pradeep Chanda, "to keep the border area population unified and to prevent the rising of anti-India forces these steps are being followed. Further on good terms between the BSF personnel and the village people is also being maintained.”

The Inner Picture

For the last few months, the torture on the Hindus and the Buddhist communities had increased a lot. Everyday forcefully they were being made to leave their jobs or being sacked and their shops were being destroyed, set on fire. This succinct phrase was doing rounds everywhere, "those who have shakha, pala ( the two traditional bangles the married Bengali women wear) on their hands, just send them to Bharat." Purely on the basis of suspicions the mobiles were being snatched away from Hindus and examined whether they were in touch with any Indian citizen or not. The problem was, approximately 2 crore Hindus of Bangladesh had almost 4 crore relatives staying at West Bengal, Assam, Tripura or other parts of India. For the last seventy years in West Bengal, the Bengalis of east Bengal had got mixed up well with their West Bengal counterpart. As a result the relationship circle had also increased. Many original West Bengal families had their relatives staying in Bangladesh. Besides, many Bengalis there, were the disciples of Ramkrishna Mission and Bharat Sevasram Sangha. They were in great trouble now. As days were gone by, the number of understanding and co-operating Bangladeshis who once used to realise the plight of the minority communities, were decreasing.

During the freedom struggle of Bangladesh, unspeakable, indescribable tortures had been inflicted on the Hindu, Buddhist and the Christian communities there. Before independence, in 1964, only on the basis of a false rumour that some Hindu had stolen a sacred object from a mosque in Kashmir, thousands of Hindus were butchered and lakhs were banished from their ancestral homes in Bangladesh. Still when the liberated Bangladesh was born having Bengali language and culture as the backbone of the entire nation, the minorities, especially the Hindu Bengalis held high hopes for their future. But since the very inception of that liberated Bangladesh, systematically the Hindu Bengalis had been subjected to deprivation in every sphere. Still Hindu Bengalis had held on to their hopes that things might get better someday. Even two years ago during Durga Puja in Kumilla, when many Durga idols were set on fire, the pandals were vandalised, temples were destroyed and people were murdered, following a scuffle in one local Puja, the Hindu Bengalis persevered.

But now the present situation there was nightmarish. Else, Rabindranath Tagore had objected in the establishment of Dhaka University or delivered a speech in Kolkata's Brigade Parade ground against the expansion of education in Bangladesh, these kind of baseless, distorted rumours wouldn't have been accepted by even the educated class of majority portion . Throughout Bangladesh, campaign had begun to raise the nationwide appeal to reject Tagore's "Amar sonar Bangla, ami tomay valobashi" as their national anthem. The destructions of eminent filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak's ancestral home, confiscation of the noted Bengali author Sunil Ganguly's ancestral property, the deletion of Rabindranath Tagore's name from an organisation and the vandalism at the shrine of the great Sufi minstrel Lalan fakir hinted only at a meaningless nationalism. The madrasa students were leading the destructions of all the Sufi shrines throughout the Bangladesh. Thus this non - violent Islamic sect of belief was being systematically erased from Bangladesh. The house of the musician Rahul Anand had been attacked and almost all of his life long collection of exquisite musical instruments were set on fire. Many other male, female singers had been attacked. Maybe that was why a great Bangladeshi author had recently addressed these fundamentalist marauders as the "patron of the Bengali Taliban uprisings." During the first two weeks of MD. Yunus interim government, the torture on minority population had started. Nowadays the predominance of that had increased up to the highest level . In every case the political standpoint of the minorities were being used as mere excuses for those violence. As if only because of being a supporter of Awami League, a person lost his right to live. And this time to give this culture a new dimension, Awami League had been replaced with Iskcon ! While beating the helpless Hindus of Chittagong, the excuse was given that not just Hindus but the supporters of Iskcon were being punished. Here the obvious question popped up. The two great Hindu saints of Bangladesh, Ram Thakur and Baba Lokenath, among whose disciples the number Muslims and Hindus were equal, then why their temples and ashramas had also been destroyed !

The history of Smt. Indira Gandhi's contribution and thousands and thousands of Indian soldiers' sacrifice that had made sure the birth of this nation, was desperately being erased. These marauders vehemently denied India's involvement in their freedom struggle. In a shocking revelation a section among the hierarchy in Bangladesh's power structure had revealed recently, that the entire mass uprising of August to dethrone the Hasina government and the related reign of terror were all pre-planned. So all these oppressions on the minorities were also carefully thought about. Most unfortunately the Pakistan military administration that had once ended the lives of 30 lakhs Bengalis in 1971, was being worshipped by this new breed Bangladeshi nationalists. Bangladesh was holding the memorial celebration of MD. Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan! Someway or the other, these nationalism was bringing back that old apparition of East Pakistan !

India, Bangladesh diplomatic attack begins

India vs. Bangladesh diplomatic tug of war in the light of "extremists rhetoric, increasing violence and provocation" against the minorities had reached new height on 29 November as India's ministry of external affairs spokesperson had made serious comments regarding the plight of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh to which a close aide of Yunus administration had sent sharp retort by addressing those comments as "condemnable and objectionable." The ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said, "We are concerned at the surge of extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence and provocation.... Iskcon is a globally well regarded organisation with a strong record of social service. We once again call upon Bangladesh to take all steps for the protection of minorities." Jaiswal also said these extreme conditions could not be camouflaged as India's media exaggeration that Bangladeshi news media had been circulating day and night and thus that country's news media had turned into unofficial agent of Yunus administration. Still India had expressed it's hope that Chinmay Krishna's trial would be "just, fair and transparent."

Chinmay Krishna had spent five days in jail. Noticing the uncertainty about the next hearing for his bail plea, Iskcon and other organisations had expressed their anxiety over his security in jail. Former Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, "Instead of addressing the concerns raised by Dhaka what we are seeing is a bout of counter allegations which is not going to be productive." Addressing the arrests of Shyamdas Prabhu and Ranganath Das when they went to the Chittagong prison to feed prasad to Chinmay Krishna, a source said, "This is an example of the institutional ostracism of minorities in today's Bangladesh .... Anyone can be arrested." Barrister Tania Amir, a highly respected figure in Bangladesh's judicial fraternity, had asked for a justification behind the sedition and treason charges, slapped on Chinmay Krishna." The alleged incident took place in the public domain and videos are available. There was no need for an arrest in this case." She also added "ingredients of treason and sedition" were not there in that incident. Tania Amir moved ahead further, questioning the justification of banning Iskcon and opening up hidden closets of Bangladesh's political stigma, "Those calling for a ban are banned organisations like the Hizb - ut - Tahrir ..... Members of this organisations, carrying ISIS flags, are openly trying to overthrow the constitution. Their acts have all the ingredients of treason, but the government is turning a blind eye and allowing them to carry on with these illicit activities," the upright barrister rebuked sharply.

Bangladesh tourists vilify minority oppression

Tourists from Bangladesh, mainly for medical treatment were worried about returning to their land and decried the ongoing atrocities with Hindu minorities. As common citizens they supported the rights of Hindus. Recently the number of medical tourists had come down to zero. Throughout the Eastern Bypass, besides the private hospitals, the hotels were empty. In Park St., Sudder St., Marquis St. the business had dealt a huge blow with this sudden down surge in tourist influx. The handful of Bangladeshi waiting to return were worried about their family members back in home.

Md. Moniruddin and his spouse Mrs. Mehbooba Chowdhury said back in Mymensingh their neighbours were Hindus. Together they lived in peaceful harmony helping each other. Moniruddin, now retired, also took morning walks with his lifelong Hindu friends. "I have studied at Mrityunjay High School in Mymensingh. I left school in 1977. Ours is a group of 30 friends and 15 of them are Hindus. We meet everyday in our park and chat.” Mehbooba joined her husband, "We visit each other's house and have food together. If our friends are attacked, how can we feel safe? The battle should be between truth and false, not between Hindus and Muslims. We are worried." Their son ran four trucks for business. His two trucks were looted recently. Moniruddin had come for treatment at R. N. Tagore hospital, Kolkata.

Rajat, an activist of BNP was arrested during Hasina's administration. He protested against the attack on minorities. He was worried about returning home by road. Rokeya Begum was also a patient at R. N. Tagore hospital. His son Rifat was worried about getting visa when her mother needed to come back again for further treatment, following the visa complications in India. "Also there are many medicines which are not available in Bangladesh. We need to come to Calcutta in order to buy those. Now that would prove difficult," Rifat told.

Bangladesh business fraternity exasperate with Yunus regime

On 30 November at a business conference the businessmen of Bangladesh have vented their irritation and frustrations with the Yunus administration. Bangladesh economy, although the fastest growing economy in south Asia had been declining steadily since the downfall of Hasina government and Yunus administration's coronation to power. "The government has failed to control the law and order situation. I am sorry to say that the interim government has been a total failure. The situation has to be fixed promptly ..... Otherwise it would be very, very difficult to pick up the economy," said Selim R. F. Hussain, Managing Director of Brac Bank , a leading private sector bank in Bangladesh. And his comments were shown by the Bangladesh media itself. These debates had taken place right in front of Yunus's finance advisor Salehuddin Ahmed and Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin. The ordinary citizens had also felt the heat of tremendous hike in market prices, since the political turbulence had jeopardized the power supply, industrial production and imports of essentials. The turbulence was also causing labour trouble regularly that led to abandoned manufacturing units and job losses. The foreign affairs advisor, the sports and youth affairs advisor had expressed their vitriolic against India and advised the political parties to stay away from "India's mandates."

But a Bangladeshi economist on the condition of anonymity had said instead of foul mouthing India, the present government should ensure the smooth supply of the essentials that would bring back the market price to normalcy. The anti - India propaganda became evident on 30 November when a bus coming from Tripura to Kolkata was hit on Brahmanbaria Border Road. "A good - laden truck rammed into the bus in what looked like premeditation .... Then local people laid siege to the bus and shouted anti - India slogans . The Indian passengers were threatened ," revealed a Tripura government source who took the matter up to Delhi. On 25 November a group of Hefazat - e - Islam in Chittagong had rallied to the office of Indian Assistant High Commission and protested against India's interference in Bangladesh's internal matters and the terrorist activities of Iskcon. Prominent business leader Abdul Muktadir Rahman said, "Nothing can be more important than this now..... Let us not close our eyes. We have to keep our eyes open and face reality.” On 30 November, RSS has requested the Bangladesh government to look after the security of minority Hindus and release Chinmay Krishna Das.

Kolkata boy badly beaten in Dhaka

Sayan Ghosh, 25, from Kolkata's northern portion, Belgharia, revealed, he was badly beaten up by Bangladeshi extremists in Dhaka on 26 November, after they found out he was a Hindu from India. He received deep wounds on his forehead and just below his left eye. His legs and other body parts were also badly bruised up. Sayan had stepped out of his place of staying, along with his friends around 8:30 pm at Bagan Bari area of Jurain, when he was attacked. He arrived at Dhaka on 23 November on a tour following an invitation from his friend. "I was walking around with my friend when a group of 5 or 6 youths stopped us and asked me where I was from because they had not seen me in the locality before. They also asked me my religion. When I told them I was a Hindu from India, they dragged me to a somewhat dark corner and tried to take away my mobile phone and money. But I resisted." Those youths then hit Sayan on his forehead with a brick and attacked him with a knife that slightly missed his left eye. Apart from his Muslim friends no one came to his rescue. Moreover, the local police station instead of helping Sayan, started to interrogate him regarding how did he arrive at Dhaka, exactly how long he had known his Muslim friend there. And finally didn't record his complaint. After that, Sayan's ordeal continued as he kept on moving from one hospital to another before receiving four stitches on his forehead and two below his left eye at the Dhaka Medical College. "I stayed at my friend's house for a few more days but the family continued to receive threats for giving shelter to an Indian Hindu. On 30 November, my friend managed to sneak me out of the house and dropped me at Dhaka railway station in the early hours. I am worried about their fate." At home Sayan wass still trying to get over his trauma. "The administration didn't appear to be keen on helping the minorities of Bangladesh. Seeing my condition you can understand how unsafe are the minorities in Bangladesh," Sayan concluded.

Dhaka sends message of peace to India

Amid the battle of nerves between India and Bangladesh, Yunus administration on 1 December sent a message of peace to India. From Dhaka, the press secretary of Yunus government MD. Shofikul Alam had told over phone "We are trying to pacify the escalating tension with India. This tension is being circulated online. We are inviting the Indian journalists to come to Bangladesh and see the situation here for themselves. After that they can make a decision. But whatever opprobrious incidents had taken place, we are taking necessary steps against that . The kind of police protection we have deployed in Chittagong, once you talk to the administration there about that, you will understand. We have talked to all the religious leaders of Iskcon. The question of banning them does not arise at all. A misinterpretation about this was sent to India. Banning a mere religious organization has never been our objective." But Shofikul had carefully avoided the incident where the Indian flag was spread on the ground at the entrance of an engineering college and thousands of students and officials had stepped on it while entering and exiting the college premise. "Some blameworthy stray incidents had taken place. As soon as we received the news of stone pelting at a temple, we took immediate steps."

The leaders of Jamayet Islami and BNP had opened their mouth about the ongoing fiery situation. According to the vice-president of BNP, Abdul Awal Mintu, "The way our present situation are being represented on different social media, it seems that throughout the Bangladesh a full fledged communal riots are going on. But that doesn't go by with real situation. Recently I have been to Noakhali. Regular transportation from Dhaka to the rest of the country are going on absolutely fine. I haven't seen any conflict between the Hindu brothers and Muslims anywhere. Nobody is getting wounded, lest the question of dying ! Through fake, purported videos it is possible to show many a things." Regarding the engineering college incident he said, "Among the university students who had done what, we don't have clear knowledge about that. But we prefer to stay extra alert about our neighbouring country. Albeit India blamed that we had a hand in creating disturbance in their north eastern states, but BNP's history doesn't say anything about forming an enmity with the neighbours. Our political and economic histories are involved with those of India . If that gets disturbed, then both sides will have to incur the loss." According to the vice - secretary of Jamayet Rahman Ajad, "Chinmoy Krishna Das was boycotted by Iskcon itself. We don't consider what had happened with him, was an act of violence against followers of Hinduism. Nobody from traditional Hindu sects was attacked. Steps had been taken to stop anarchy in Bangladesh. Some incidents had taken place against secular spirit of Bangladesh that had put the law and order situation at risk. Some seditious activities had also taken place."

Hindu minorities desperate to enter India, BSF tightens the grip

In view of the Hindus and other Bangladeshi minority communities' desperate attempts to enter India to save their lives, the BSF had tightened its security measures in order to prevent these trespassing, told IG (North Bengal), Suryakant Sharma at the Siliguri headquarter on 2 December. According to him the minorities were making attempts at crossing the border through Thakurgaon, Dinajpur and Panchogarh borders. "Continuous communication is being maintained with the BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh). Measures have been taken to prevent trespassing. Many a times people are getting caught red handed with fake Aadhar cards at the border check posts. Immediately the matters are being informed to the centre." A woman from Dinajpur, in Kolkata on medical visa said, "in my country uproar is going on some places. Attempts are being made to pacify these situations. Many people want election. We want a stable government."

Minorities safety : Delhi wants Dhaka's alacrity

In response to Yunus's press secretary Shofikul Alam's telephonic message for maintaining peace, south block replied, only saying aomething didn't mean anything . From last August the circumstances that Bangladesh was going through, in order to control that, their government should be active enough and take the onus of minorities safety. From 5 August against all the organized communal crimes till now, the Bangladesh government didn't take any legal steps. Moreover, Yunus administration claimed no such incidents actually happened there. The entire scenario was purportedly represented by the Indian media. Thus Yunus administration completely denied the series of horrible genocides ! Yunus administration had also taken the recourse of this recurring lies, what was happening was not communal, rather political. Angry and frustrated mob under the rubric of Awami League's anarchy were now taking their revenge by crushing their supporters that incidentally included many Hindus, since Awami League had a solid Hindu base. Delhi retaliated strongly to this comment as attempts to cover up the actual crimes and issuing official license to the extremists who were committing these crimes time and again. On theory, Bangladesh government's deliberation on erasing the word secular from their constitution had created mass panic among the minorities. Despite harbouring this kind of communalism the government maintains a facade of tolerance in the international arena. As of now, India was keeping strict vigil on Bangladesh's activities. It had been assumed, before Donald Trump started his tenure, Bangladesh would continue its diplomatic devilment against India . Because from the coming January, they might not receive the same old sympathy from Washington DC as they were enjoying now.

Besides keeping a watch over Bangladesh, Delhi was planning to create pressures on it on different grounds. Delhi's implementation of latest visa restriction was one such step. There was no hope of relaxing this visa restriction in the future. Even medical visas were also being scrutinized , since Bangladeshis could also go to other countries for treatment.

No advocate will appear for Chinmoy's hearing for bail petition

On 2 December the Chittagong session court would hear Chinmoy Krishna Das's bail petition. But no advocate would stand for him. Owing to the explosive case filed against the 53 advocates, appeared in the magistrate court on behalf of Chinmoy Krishna Das, no advocate was appearing this time for him. Two journalists and few persons from minorities organisations had also been named in that case. Besides, Chinmoy Krishna's counsel Ramen Roy was attacked and wounded in his home. Senior advocate Ramen Roy was admitted in the ICU department of a hospital. Another counsel of Chinmoy Das had revealed that on 2 December another attack on the rest of Chinmoy's lawyers was planned. The lawyers claimed the explosive case against 70 persons including 53 advocates of Chinmoy Das was baseless and false. Generally only police could file an explosive related case. The brother of the dead advocate Saiful Islam was the litigant of this case. According to the accused lawyers where no incident of explosion had occurred in the first place, this case should not hold any legal ground in the court. In truth, to impede the deserved judgement of Chinmoy Das and to create a mass panic among the advocate fraternity all these had been done. An advocate said, "the interim government talks about sympathy towards minorities and in reality to destroy the fair trial of Chinmay Krishna, they were planning all these conspiracies.”

Chinmoy Krishna Das to stay in jail for another one month without trial as intimidation keeps his lawyers at bay

According to multiple sources, severe threats from different quarters of Islamic fundamentalists at the Chittagong District Bar Association had paralysed the lawyers' will to appear at the Chittagong court to represent Chinmay Das at his bail petition hearing on 3 December, resulting into one month jail custody for the monk without any trial. According to a source, "There are about 8000 lawyers who practices in the CMM court and the District Judge's court in Chittagong. Of this 1200 belong to Hindu, Christian and Buddhists communities ..... The CMM court complex is in a hilly area called Court Hill which can be accessed through two roads. Besides intimidating the minority community lawyers and asking them to steer clear of the courts, the Islamists in the lawyers association who owe allegiance to the radical Hefazat - e - Islam and Hizb - ul - Tahrir laid siege to the two roads , making it impossible for any lawyer to reach the court to represent Chinmoy Prabhu." According to the Bangladesh media the next hearing date fell on 2 December. Lawyers Ramen Roy and Rigan Acharya represented Chinmay Krishna at the Dhaka court and Chittagong court respectively . Now both of them were fighting for their lives in hospitals. Unable to bear the pressure of those hard hits, Rigan Achary's skull got broken at a large portion. According to the sources, Chinmoy Krishna Das is getting ready to represent himself in the court, if ultimately no lawyer represented him. "The administration nipped that plan in the bud by not producing him in court .... Das could have also asked for legal aid had he been produced before the magistrate, but he was robbed of that opportunity" according to close allies of Chinmoy Krishna. The sources also said, the Bangladesh government was setting up all these commotions in order to lengthen the judicial procedure, so that they could frame him in other charges, i. e., the murder of the advocate Saiful Islam.

At late hours on 2 December, after Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma had registered the protest against the attack on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala on 1 December at the office of the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, the Pakistan High Commissioner, Syed Ahmed Maroof had met the ex - prime minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia of BNP party at her residence. This meeting had sparked rumours among the diplomatic fraternity that Pakistan was pulling the strings behind all these turbulence since last August. Tania Amir, the noted barrister of Bangladesh had called the 2 December mass attack and intimidation of Chinmoy Krishna's lawyers at the Chittagong CMM Court, "very unusual" According to her, "The judge himself could have taken a call on the bail plea even in the absence of any lawyer for the accused. This incident is a glaring example of what's happening in today's Bangladesh, where the human rights of even the lawyers are not protected. We are in the process of documenting how the lawyers have come under attack in this regime," she added. According to sources, almost 70 minority advocates had hidden themselves in fear after being charged with murder by the Bangladesh judiciary. They had also started the boycott of Chittagong court for the uncertain period in protest against this crime against them. The lawyers also came to know, there was plan of attack on them at the court compound. BNP - Jamayet Islami supporter lawyers had announced today, they were keeping constant watch. If they find any lawyer initiating to represent Chinmoy Krishna, he would be subjected to lynching. "Come and visit Andarkilla, Rahmatganj, Ashkar Dighir Paar, Patharghata or Firingi Bazar which are minority dominated areas in Chittagong to get a sense of the fear among us .... Most of us have closed down our shops and business establishments as we know that we can be targeted at any time ," according to a septuagenarian Hindu businessman. "I was a freedom fighter and have seen the tumultuous days of 1971 .... The situation was not as bad even in those days," said a Bangladesh liberation war veteran.

Alam, the government insider, and senior BNP leaders including acting chairperson Tarieq Rahman have charged India in acerbic tone addressing the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, Tripura. "The Indian government not only condemned the incident without any delay, several people have also been arrested..... What did the Yunus government do after the Indira Gandhi Culture Centre in Dhaka was gutted on August 5 ?” questioned Rokeya Prachi, the Bangladeshi actress in her Facebook post. Various other protests against the overall atrocities of Yunus government since last August were showing on the social media platforms. "This government is doing irreparable damage to the country by not making any efforts to restore law and order. Right thinking people are trying to run away from Bangladesh," posted an upright Bangladeshi citizen who had shifted to America recently.

Hoteliers in Malda, West Bengal rejects accomodation to Bangladeshi boarders in solidarity with the oppressed minorities in Bangladesh

The united hoteliers of Malda in north Bengal had denied to offer room to the boarders from Bangladesh in protest against the unjust arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, the dishonouring of the Indian flag and the open broad daylight torture on the minorities of Bangladesh. "We will not accommodate guests from Bangladesh in our hotels . The decision was taken as our members are aggrieved with and deeply concerned about anti - India activities in Bangladesh and the way they are dishonouring our country," said Krishnendu Chowdhury, the secretary of the Malda Hoteliers Association. They had also notified it to the police. "The decision not to host people from the neighbouring country, will hamper people to people relationships, which is crucial at such a time of crisis," according to a Bangladeshi who had brought his mother here for treatment. This movement from the hoteliers had come in connection with the Kolkata's private nursing home's decision not to extend any kind of medical assistance to the Bangladeshis. The doctor fraternity of Kolkata had condemned it on the principle of the profession, "Even injured prisoners of war are treated. Whatever is happening in Bangladesh , including the attacks on minorities and disrespect to the Indian flag, is condemnable and should be protested. But not treating the sick will be violating the Hippocratic Oath, we have taken as doctors . We have taken the oath not to let religion, rationality, race, party politics or social standing come in the way of my duty and my profession," said a doctor on condition of anonymity. Bangladesh nationals are making hasty returns to their land as the ports were being closed following the escalating protests in Bangladesh. "I came for follow - up treatment at a private hospital in Kolkata, but the experience this time was disheartening . We felt isolated and unwelcome, unlike on previous visits when we always felt at home," told a Bangladeshi waiting for returning to Bangladesh at the Petrapole border.

Flabbergasted Bangladesh at the comment of West Bengal CM

Replying to the comment of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee that United Nation should deploy peace keeping force to control the situation of Bangladesh, the surprised press secretary, Shofikul Alam said, "We are surprised at her remark. A chief minister should have validity in what she says. We have no such information about the insecurity or unsafe conditions of the Indian students and those who are doing services here." What the south block in New Delhi thought was if the situation deteriorated in future then they might think about placing their demand to the United Nations to send an observer over there. Still they hoped that foreign secretary Vikram Misri's tour of Bangladesh would calm down this tension between two nations . Indian diplomatic community still thought the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das could have been avoided. In that case, the situation wouldn't have been this much worse. Now the way violence had come out on open road the opportunity for diplomatic solution was decreasing. India still kept all the bilateral relations with Bangladesh, open. The export of essential commodities were going on as usual. "We won't take any step that will create any kind of danger for the common Bangladeshis." In the 4 December press statement of Bangladesh government the press secretary Shofikul said, "we have increased security in every sensitive zone of the country. For some unknown reasons India is not understanding us properly. We are in regular discussion with the Hindu leaders of Iskcon. 75 of them have gone to Kolkata for pilgrimage. The Hindu community is involved in large businesses in Chittagong. They are running their businesses peacefully there." On 4 December the chief adviser of Md. Yunus held a meeting with all the party leaders. There when he was mentioning all the news of the oppressions on Hindu and other minorities of Bangladesh as "materials of stories and novels", at that moment in Sunamganj more than 40 helpless and shelterless Hindu families with children and elders were getting ready to spend the night under open sky in this cold December . According to the locals, only on the accusation that a Hindu student had desecrated the Islam in his facebook post, the local madrasa students of Doarabazar had destroyed the houses of almost 40 Hindu families and their temples on the night of 3 December. Few local anti socials were also involved in the operation. The local people had complained on social media, the police had cordoned off the entire area. Even the Bangladesh news media was not permitted to enter. While police was taking the accused Hindu student, the local residents were also attacked.

On 4 December, Britain foreign ministry's member, responsible for Indian and Pacific region, Catherine Waist had read the report on the oppression on the minorities of Bangladesh at the house of Commons. She said, very recently she had met the advisory members of Bangladesh at Dhaka. She was assured of the security of the minorities of Bangladesh. But afterwards the real picture turned out to be quite the opposite. Conservative MP, Preeti Patel said, "Bangladesh's situation is extremely tensed. British government had warned the travellers, about to visit Bangladesh, they will have fear of getting attacked by Bangladeshi extremists." Afterwards the Bangladesh foreign advisor, Touhid Hussain had called on the British High Commissioner Sarah Cook and expressed their dismay at these gestures of British government.

Yunus asks for accurate information on minority oppression

At a meeting held on 5 December with the leaders of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian minorities, the chief adviser Yunus said the issue of minority attack had come up again. But the actual information is being inflated by the foreign media, "We want to know the accurate information and want to establish the process of getting the information, " according to the government run BSS news agency. Those who were guilty, must be held accountable for their actions. "MD. Yunus asked the religious leaders to give him the accurate number of attacks on the minority communities. He stressed on creating a safer environment for the people of all other religious beliefs and taking immediate measures for the victims of communal oppression. "I have asked you to join to know how information could be gleaned in a safer way so that the information providers do not fall in trouble," said he. On 5 December, the US department of state spokeswoman, Margaret MacLeod had expressed her view that the conditions of the Bangladeshi minorities were fearsome and the responsible sections of the government should held dialogues between them in order to ensure the safer living conditions for the people of all other religious beliefs.

The plan for substitute corridor postponed: Siliguri under strict vigil

As the substitute corridor of Siliguri gateway, known as " Chicken's Neck", the plan for another corridor had been taken between India and Bangladesh which was supposed to be operated through rail and road transport. The primary level discussion had been held . But in view of the recent situations that plan had been cancelled. Moreover the paramilitary force at Chicken's Neck "had been instructed to keep the area under extra watch.” Also the army and air force were keeping the area under watch. China's recent aggression towards India through Bangladesh is also creating an extra pressure on India. According to a higher official of state detective department, "state and Center are always alert to keep the Chicken's Neck secured. The joint operation is going on that." He also informed that during the Hasina government, to develop the foreign trade and tourism and also to keep Chicken's Neck safe, India had planned for a parallel corridor of Chicken's Neck. From Meghalaya of India to Dinajpur of Bangladesh the distance of the corridor had been set keeping in mind, incase of any unrest or blockade, the parallel corridor would function.

174 terrorists freed in four months of Yunus government

When in response to the British government's warning to its tourists about possible terrorist attack there, the special adviser Touhid Hussain informed the British High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Sarah Cook, that there was no possibility of any tourist attack in Bangladesh, the DG of prison department had informed that since 8 August till now, the 11 high level criminals and 174 terrorists had been freed from jail. The law and order force during the Hasina government had toiled day and night to put these noted terrorists and criminals behind the lockup. Now the release of these lawbreakers had infuriated a large portion of law and order force, according to an officer . What he told over phone from Bangladesh, "During this government, instead of democracy, mobocracy has settled down in Bangladesh. The common people have realized, if there's a slightest protest, then the concerned person will have to face murder charge and sometimes will be beaten to death . A mass panic has set in. Just like any other person I also cannot take my name."

The mastermind of the blogger - killing, Ansarulla, the highest ranking terrorist of Bangla Team ABT, Jasimuddin Rahmani were freely roaming on the streets, fresh out of jail. Cordoned by army, Rahmani was delivering speech in a hand - held mike on an open - roof car, this alarming scene was telecast by some news channels. Very recently a journalist whose had been stripped off of his national ID card and the membership of national press club in the face of the Yunus administration's rage against him, had said, "Majority of channels had not even telecast this news in the fear of infuriating the Yunus administration, lest publishing a picture of the same." Hizbut Tahrir, the banned terrorist organisation was openly holding meeting and processions since this government had come to power. The leadership of this group had claimed to lift the ban on them. Complaints had been raised that few members of this organisation had also been appointed within the government.

The general law and order situation of Bangladesh is pathetic. There had been more than 500 incidents of murder in the last three months. Looting, burglary and dacoity were the parts of daily life now. The police administration had stated, during the revolution, many police stations and arsenals had been looted. 5829 firearms and more than 6.5 lakh cartridges and gun powder had been looted from the deployed police personnel in those police stations. According to the detective department of Bangladesh, these huge amount of arms, ammunition and machinery were now in the hands of the criminals and the terrorist organisations were collecting those from them. An Awami League leader, in Kolkata, had said, "From controlling the torture on the minorities to controlling the terrorist uprising to controlling the inflation of the open market - people are not getting to see the good will of the Yunus government in any of these aspects . So now the Yunus government is playing the old trump card of anti - India sentiment campaigns and activities to save their image." On one hand, Yunus administration was calling out to all the government allies for a unification. On the other hand, the BNP was asking to boycott the Indian goods. Their senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kobir Rizvi in an open air meeting, had thrown a red saree on the ground and said, "I have brought it from my wife . I am boycotting this old Indian saree. " A group of followers immediately had set that saree on fire. But a netizen had commented below this video, "if rice , pulse, wheat, potato, onion , eggs and spices do not arrive in time from India, we face great difficulties. Leaders remain untouched. So this drama of burning the old Indian saree is not working at all." On 5 December, in the hilly area of Chittagong, a group of miscreants attacked the house of the co - ordinator of the Sanatani Jagoran Jot, Pranto Das and killed her mother. According to Pranto, he had gone to someplace else with his friend at that time.

Violence against minorities, first preference in the Dhaka meeting

Attacks on Hindus and other minorities would become the main focus of the Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri's meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart on Monday . "India had been consistently flagging it's concerns about what's happening to the minorities.... This will be at the top of the agenda when our foreign secretary meets his counterpart , MD. Jashim Uddin on Monday," said a source. Bangladesh had still been denying it's ongoing minority oppressions as the Indian media's propaganda. But the reality was presenting the naked truth as according to the Iskcon's official statement, in the early hours of 7 December one of it's temples in the Dhaka district had been burnt down. "Iskcon Namhatta centre burnt down in Bangladesh. The deities of Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan and all items inside the temple were burnt down completely. The centre was located in Dhaka....", wrote Iskcon Kolkata's vice President , Radha Raman Das on their X handle. A member of the “Hindu, Buddhists, Christian Community” informed, there was a pattern to the attacks, "The attempt is to intimidate Hindus , so they leave their properties and run away," said the Chittagong based source who was also underground. In explanation of the "pattern" the source mentioned the forced resignation of the sociologist, Anupam Sen, the Vice Chancellor of Premier University in Chittagong in the evening of 6 December. "Sen's resignation came after students launched a protest under the banner of the General Students' Anti - Discrimination Movement at Premier University .... Some other senior professors too had to resign under their pressure. Sen is revered across the country and used to be a colleague of MD. Yunus (head of the interim government of Bangladesh ) when he was at Chittagong University...... But the chief adviser (Yunus) has not made a single comment on the forced resignation," according to the source. What the source tried to imply was, if a vip like Anupam Sen got victimized, then it is crystal clear that the ordinary Hindus were in great trouble. Interestingly, the Bangladesh media had been circulating that Sen had stepped down owing to his age related issues that he mentioned (or, was pressurized to mention) in his resignation letter. Whereas, according to several inside sources, Anupam Sen was harassed for 48 hours at a stretch before he surrendered to the pressure. "These students attached to groups like Hizb - ut - Tahrir Hefazat - e - Islam have been creating havoc across campuses in the country," a former HR head at a premiere private university said, who also was forced to resign by the protesting Hizb - ut - Tahrir. "They are targeting teachers from the minority communities or teachers who uphold the secular and liberal ethos of Bangladesh, and forcing them to resign." Yunus's group of associates including senior editors, lawmakers and civil society members were trying their best to camouflage these incidents as necessary political steps being taken against the Awami League members. "In the name of national unity which Yunus tried to create by holding back to back meetings with political parties and representatives of various religions, the interim government is trying to brush all the criticisms against it under the carpet," said a veteran journalist who had 35 years of experience but was fired after the power shift in August. A source at the Indian side had said almost the same thing, "When the Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka , he was told, New Delhi must reign in the Indian media outlets that are carrying the negative reports about Bangladesh. They have stifled the media in their country by arresting journalists, cancelling their accreditation cards and taking control of media outlets. That's why they think the media can be controlled." Dhaka had already started importing rice, sugar, onion and cooking oil from Pakistan and Sri Lanka as back-up options. "It can be a temporary solution, but we need normal trade ties with India," said a Bangladesh business man who had to import cotton and chemicals from India in order to run his cotton business. A huge portion of Bangladesh business community was eagerly waiting for this India - Bangladesh tension to subside but the diplomatic scenario in Dhaka didn't sound that positive, "In this charged environment, with anti - India sentiment at their peak, I don't expect anything significant from the FCI ( Foreign Office Consultations).... At best each side will table it's concerns and the other side will promise to look into them," according to an observer from the Bangladesh side. Rumour had it that Vikram Misri might have few words with even MD. Yunus.

Big contest among Bangladesh political parties in creating anti - India sentiments

As the livelihoods of common Bangladeshis were worsening, the political parties there, were engaging in a precarious competition among themselves in creating anti - India sentiments. On 8 December the three branch organisations of BNP had marched to Indian High commission in order to submit a memorandum of official protest against the barricading of Bangladesh assistant Commissioner's office in Tripura, the dishonouring of Bangladesh national flag and creating communal riots. On 6 December, in Nasibpur, the district sub-division of Netrakona, criminals have destroyed a Hindu shrine. Police had arrested one person.

Dhaka plays double whammy about Chinmay Krishna Das's release

On 8 December, Yunus administration had said they are seriously concerned about smoothening the tensions with India. The foreign advisor Touhid Hussain had told at a press meet in Dhaka Press Club that this tension between the two neighbouring countries would soon come to an end. The inflation has risen to the record level of 10.87% in October. According to the multiple sources Dhaka would certainly deliberate upon resuming the usual import of essential commodities from India. "Is the situation conducive for the normalization of trade ties?", a Delhi source asked.

On the other hand, that Bangladesh had absolutely no intention to end this great turmoil had become once again clear when an attempt to murder case was slapped against Chinmoy Krishna Das by some Enamul Haque, a leader of Hefazat-e-Islam. But the locals had given a completely opposite picture. According to them, on the day of presenting Chinmay Krishna in the court, Enamul Haque was seen attacking the minority Hindus in the court compound. Chinmay all along had been a supporter of students' movement. He had never said anything against the state. The exact reason behind his apprehension in sedition case and his subsequent incarceration were still not clear. According to a lawyer, "Chinmay Krishna Das's huge popularity and lakhs and lakhs people's gathering at his one call, had become the point of the government's rage against him. Bangladesh was gearing up for the protracted jail custody of Chinmoy Krishna. Eminent personalities of Bangladesh, such as, Swami Purnatmananda, President of Ramkrishna Math and Mission, Dhaka had written to MD. Yunus urging for the immediate release of Chinmoy Das. A day before the foreign secretary meeting, on 8 December, three students organisations of BNP marched to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, shouting slogans, "Delhi or Dhaka ? Dhaka, Dhaka !" and "Agents of India, be careful, be careful." A Bangladeshi observer asked, "If the government is so keen on improving ties with India, why did it allow the BNP to hold such a mega rally a day before the Indian foreign secretary's arrival ?" In the meeting Yunus government would ask India to return Hasina to Bangladesh, so that she could not carry on her political activities, seating in India.

Hasina decries the Yunus administration, again

On 8 December, while virtually addressing an Awami League event in London, Sheikh Hasina again took the reference of Chinmoy Krishna Das' arrest and imprisonment. "One monk, Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested.... but not a single lawyer could stand for him. The government should have provided lawyers for him for the sake of justice. But there is no scope for justice in today's Bangladesh." Referring to the arrests of journalists, civil society workers, Awami League leaders and supporters she said, "There is a fascist government in Bangladesh.... The entire country is burning." She had appealed to the Bangladeshis to make a comparison between her regime and the current regime.

Kolkata hospitals solve the date problems of Bangladesh patients

Several Kolkata private hospitals were rescheduling the appointments of the harassed Bangladeshi patients by giving them new dates sometimes even jumping the existing queue. "They are uncertain about whether they would be able to come to India for a second time . There is a fear that the Indo - Bangladesh border could be sealed for a few days. Hence they do not want to delay any unavoidable procedure or surgery. If a patient from Bangladesh fails to come on a scheduled date, we offer them the date when the doctor is available next for the surgery. We are not making them wait in the queue," said Sudipta Mitra, the Chief Executive of Peerless Hospital.

They are living in fear of becoming refugees

The number had decreased . But Bangladeshis are still commuting to India through the Petrapole border with a constant fear about their country's current situation and the tension and anxiety of becoming refugees. Scene one, the old Anandabala from Borishal had arrived here on 8 December, on the way to her relative's home. As she took tea at a tea shop at Petrapole border, anxiety was there at every corner of her face, " I have witnessed this country's liberation but never thought one day this country would turn into this." She thought this had not happened in one day. For a long time all these had been planned. Continuous tortures were being inflicted on Hindus. They were losing their spirits, "the minorities don't have any suitable condition for living in Bangladesh. We have no other way than to desert our birthplace, sell home and land and come to this country (India)." Scene two, another old man from Gopalgunj echoed the same words, "Nobody wants to leave his birthplace at this ripe age and come to India as refugee. But we are helpless . Our existence was in crisis in our own country." Scene three, according to the old man from Manirampur, "In the coming days there is a chance of election in Bangladesh. After which the torture upon us will increase. We urge India to shelter us as refugees. Scene four, Saroj Kumar Ghosh had arrived from Jessore. The picture he presented was that the actual torture upon the minority were far more than what was being shown in Bangladesh media. The panick had gripped the mass consciousness in such a way that even standing in Petrapole I was getting afraid of taking my name while giving this account. Because I might get identified and attacked in my country afterwards. Scene five, on his way to home, Bangladesh, a Hindu youth said, "I don't know whether I will be able to come to this country again or not. But I am sending my prayer to the Indian government that kindly do something to save us."

In broad daylight a group of armed men came and looted the entire paddy from the field in front of the farmers who were the Hindu land owners and had cultivated those crops. Few persons who had protested had landed in hospitals with head injuries and broken limbs. In the Sunderban - related portion of the Saatkheera district, all the fishes were looted from the all the fisheries, in front of the helpless eyes of the Hindu owners. They didn't protest in the fear of attacks on their homes and properties, looting, setting fire to their houses and even violation of their women's chastity, in retaliation. A Hindu shop owner was doing usual business when suddenly a group of people entered into the shop and kicked him in the chest. Soon after he fell on the ground, the attackers pounded on him and lynched him severely. Then they looted his shop and finally destroyed his shop. In another place a Hindu businessman's house was looted, destroyed. The idol of his family's ancestral deity was removed from the temple and broken into pieces. Finally the men of the household were badly beaten and the women were sexually tortured for hours. The Hindu teachers and government service holders were forcefully made to submit their resignations, else severe lynching followed. Sometimes they were forced to walk the entire locality wearing garlands made of shoes. When some of these people went to the local police stations to seek justice, the police arrested them and filed cases against them. Now these grassroot level Hindus of Bangladesh were spending their days and nights mostly closing the doors and windows all the times and still they were not feeling safe.

Girl walks 11 km, boy swims a vast distance to flee their motherland and find shelter in India

A 17 year old girl from a village in Panchgarh district had walked 11 kilometres alone in order to escape the killing hands of Islamist extremists of her motherland Bangladesh and entered India to save herself. A 21 year old boy had swam across a wide stream that flew through Bangladesh and India, to enter into India and save his life from the clutches of Islamic fundamentalists of his motherland Bangladesh. Both of them had been detained by the BSF and handed over to the police. The police said about the girl and her family, "They are the devotees of Iskcon and were reportedly threatened during the past few days. Some people even told them that they would abduct and kill their daughter . Out of desperation, they decided to send their daughter to India in an illegal manner, keeping in mind her safety." The girl's destination was to reach Belakhoba, a relative's home. She had reached Chopra in North Dinajpur, 70 km from Belakhoba on 10 December night where she was arrested by the BSF and handed over to the Chopra police. On receiving the urgent call from police, her relative arrived at the police station. "She left her home on 10 December and walked alone through agricultural fields and covered a distance of 11 km. At night she tried to get into India. We understand the situation but we wonder how the parents could send her alone," said the relative. On 11 December, the North Dinajpur Juvenile Justice Board had sent the girl to a state run home for minor girls.

On 11 December, Jiban Barman, a first year undergraduate student of Thakurpukur Govt. College of Rangpur division of Bangladesh, had flown across Karatowa river that also entered Jalpaiguri in India. According to a source, "He claimed that over the past few days, he had faced threats and was told he would be implicated in false cases. That is why he fled the country." A judicial court in Jalpaiguri had sent the boy to judicial custody for 14 days.

"Ain't afraid of dying," Chinmay Krishna's counsel

The senior advocate, the official counsel for Chinmoy Krishna Das who is about to stand in the Chittagong court on the coming 2 January, had come to Kolkata for his treatment. On 16 December he went to his son's house in Barrackpore. There he said, "The monk is the victim of mental and physical torture. The false cases had been filed against him. Few Bangladeshi advocates had already heckled me. I am not afraid to die. I haven't come to India to flee from Bangladesh. On 2 January I will again stand in the Chittagong court to offer judicial assistance to Chinmay Krishna Das." After telling about his involvement in the Bangladesh liberation war the 75 year old had claimed, "The kind of peace and harmony that had prevailed in Bangladesh after the 1971 liberation war, we thought this time also peace and harmony would prevail. That didn't happen. We thought we would stay in harmony. At this point there are two to three governments in Bangladesh. Nobody is listening to anyone. The interim government has no administrative ability. A government cannot run this way. Thus, the unrest will increase more. One day I shall have to die, but I shall end my fight before that. I may have to go to the High Court and even Supreme Court for Chinmay Krishna." Rabindra Ghosh the counsel had said with a farm voice, "The particular grounds, filed against Chinmoy, are absolutely false but non - bailable. This entire conspiracy had been hatched only to trap him. He was becoming a huge figure in Bangladesh by speaking for Hindu Bengalis there. Lakhs and lakhs of people were gathering in his one call at the meetings. That's why he came under the administration's red eye. He had made eight general demands."

The monk, Chinmay Krishna Das was still serving in jail without even any trial. His fate hung in uncertainty as it was not certain that the 2 January hearing for his bail petition would be held or not in Chittagong court under these disturbing circumstances. The conditions of Hindu Bengalis of Bangladesh were getting worse day by day, as they were being constantly tortured, looted and raped. Md. Yunus's administration was constantly denying these allegations as mere false propaganda of the Indian news media. The Hindu Bengalis of Bangladesh were living there in constant fear and trepidation.

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