While there was no official confirmation from Dhaka, the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jot, of which Chinmoy was a leader, also said in a statement that two more monks had been arrested.
“We have got information that two monks were arrested by Bangladesh police on Friday. They had gone to jail to give medicines to Chinmoy Krishna Das. When they were returning, the police arrested them. We strongly protest against such arrests and appeal to the Bangladesh government to give protection to minorities,” Radharamn Das, vice-president and spokesperson of ISKCON, Kolkata, told The Indian Express.
“Those arrested are Sri Adi Purush Shyam Das and devotee Ranganath Das Brahmachari Prabhu,” he said.
Sharing a photograph of Shyam Das, who is Chinmoy’s assistant, in a post on X, Radharamn said: “Does he look like a terrorist? #FreeISKCONMonks Bangladesh. The arrest of innocent #ISKCON brahmacharis are deeply shocking & disturbing.”
He also posted a purported video clip of an attack on an ISKCON centre. “Another ISKCON centre in Bhairav, Bangladesh, has been vandalised. No respite in sight. #SaveBangladeshiHindus,” he posted.
In another post on X, Radharamn said ISKCON devotees would gather in over 150 countries on Sunday “to pray and chant for the safety and security of Bangladeshi minorities”.
While ISKCON has clarified that Chinmoy “does not represent” them in Bangladesh, it emphasised in a statement earlier this week that it “supports his rights and freedom for peacefully calling for protecting Hindus and their places of worship”. According to ISKCON officials, Chinmoy was expelled in September this year.
The Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jot, of which Chinmoy was a leader, also issued a statement on Saturday highlighting the fresh arrests and alleged atrocities on minorities.
“Monks who went to give medicines to Chinmoy Krishna Das were arrested by police. Other Hindus are also being arrested by police. Where is human rights? Where is the protection for minorities,” said the statement in Bengali, adding that places of worship, including ISKCON centres in Bangladesh, were being attacked.
On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India has conveyed its concern over the attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and pressed for a “fair and transparent trial” for Chinmoy.
“Our position on the matter is clear — the interim government must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities. We are concerned at the surge of extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence and provocation. These developments cannot be dismissed only as media exaggeration. 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,” he said at a media briefing.
According to local media reports in Bangladesh, Chinmoy, who had been leading rallies demanding security for Hindus, was arrested from Dhaka’s main airport on November 25 while travelling to Chattogram in southeastern Bangladesh. He faces charges of sedition filed in October after he led a rally in Chattogram in which he was accused of disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag.
A case was filed against Chinmoy and 18 others on October 30 at Chattogram’s Kotwali police station based on the complaint of a leader of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which accused them of disrespecting the national flag in the city’s Laldighi Maidan during a rally of the Hindu community on October 25.
A Bangladeshi court denied bail to Chinmoy, triggering violent protests in which assistant government prosecutor Saiful Islam Alif was killed in Chattogram. On Thursday, the Bangladesh High Court rejected a petition seeking a ban on ISKCON activities.