Hours after India expressed “deep concern” over the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and urged authorities “to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities” in Bangladesh, Dhaka reacted to it, calling the issue its “internal affairs”.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed deep concern over the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das and urged Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
Within a few hours, the Bangladesh’s foreign ministry issued a statement in reaction to India’s and said, “It is with utter dismay and deep sense of hurt that the Government of Bangladesh notes that the arrest of Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been misconstructed by certain quarters since Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been arrested on specific charges.”
“The Government of Bangladesh maintains that such unfounded statements not only misrepresent facts, but also stand contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries,” the Bangladesh’s ministry of foreign affairs said.
The Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus further alleged that the statement issued by the MEA “does not reflect the harmony that exists among the peoples of all faiths and the commitment and the efforts of the government and the people in this regard.”
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“It also completely disregards that the Government of Bangladesh is determined to conclusively end the culture of impunity to the perpetrators of gross human rights violations against the people of Bangladesh, thus treating the religious majority and minorities alike.”
The ministry in Dhaka further said, “Bangladesh reaffirms, in the strongest terms, that every Bangladeshi, regardless of his or her religious identity, has the right to establish, maintain or perform respective religious rituals and practices or express views without hindrance,” it said, adding that ensuring safety and security of all citizens, “particularly the members of religious minorities, remains a duty of the government of Bangladesh”.
On Tuesday, a court in Bangladesh denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das who was arrested a day before on sedition charges and was sent to prison. His detention triggered massive protests by community members in several locations, including the capital city of Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram.
Das was escorted to the court on Tuesday amid tight security as a large group of his supporters, including lawyers, chanted slogans protesting his arrest and demanding his release.
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Upon the conclusion of the arguments, the judge rejected Das’s bail petition and said that since the Hindu priest was arrested from outside the port city, as per law, he is required to be kept under judicial custody for 24 hours.
The judge then ordered that Das be taken to jail and directed the prison authorities to allow him to practice his religious rituals as per the Jail Code.
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Chinmoy Krishna’s arrest ‘our internal matter,’ Bangladesh on India’s ‘deep concern’ remarks
