The situation in Bangladesh is rapidly deteriorating for the minority Hindu community, especially since the arrest of Hindu religious leader and ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu on Monday. A petition has also been filed in the Bangladesh High Court seeking a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as part of an onslaught on the Hindu community. Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the Yunus led interim government has unleashed radical mobs on the minority community, but now the state is aiding the Islamists in their plans to purge the Hindus, remniscient of the precursor to the 1971 pogroms on the Hindus in the region.

Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari is one of the leaders of the Hindu organization ISKCON. He is also serving as the spokesperson of Sanatan Jagoran Mancha. He has been leading a staunch defence of Hindus and has been constantly questioning the Bangladesh government for their indifference to the pleas of the Hindu community, which has been under attack by radical Islamist mobs. Das has held huge rallies to unify the Hindus of Bangladesh. Chinmoy Krishna Das accosted the Yunus regime for letting radical mobs ransack, loot and attack Hindu monasteries and temples in Bangladesh.

The Hindu community has been protesting against the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu who was slapped with sedition charges. Prabhu has been raising his voice against atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. He has also organised several protests demanding the security of the religious minority community.

He was arrested on November 25 at Dhaka Airport and was sent to jail on charges of sedition. Protests broke out outside the Chittagong court in which a lawyer was allegedly killed by the mob. A petition has also been filed in the Bangladeshi High Court seeking a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as attacks on the Hindu community intensified in the country.

1971 pogrom of Hindus

The region of Bangladesh has a history of anti Hindu violence. During the 1971 liberation war between the Mukti Bahini and the Pakistan army, the Islamist Pakistani soldiers specifically targeted Hindus. Pakistani soldiers even boasted to US soldiers that they came “to kill Hindus”. The US consulates reported the methodical slaughter of Hindu men in the cities.

Army units entered villages asking where Hindus live; it was a “common pattern” to kill Hindu males. Hindus were identified because they were not circumcised. Sometimes the military also massacred Hindu women. There was widespread killing of Hindu males, and rapes of women. Documented incidents in which Hindus were massacred in large numbers, like the Jathibhanga massacre, the Chuknagar massacre, and the Shankharipara massacre.

Over the years the population of Hindus in Bangladesh has been falling rapidly. Despite the liberation of Bangladesh from Islamist Pakistan, Hindus continue to face the brunt of Islamist attacks as lakhs have been displaced from their native regions. As Bangladesh is descending to become a radical Islamist den like Pakistan. Today the Hindu minorities make up only 8 per cent of Bangladesh’s 170 million population.

Face of the Resistance

Bangladesh is currently undergoing an extremely volatile political situation. The elected government of Sheikh Hasina was ousted by a student protest in August. Consequently an interim caretaker government was formed under the Chief Adviser and Nobel laurete Muhammad Yunus.

Under Yunus the attacks on minorities have been relentless, the Hindu community has suffered at the hands of radical Islamist mobs that have targeted the villages, families and homes of the minorities. Yunus has been accused of standing by and letting the mobs run rampage across the country. Over 1000 people have succumbed in the violent clashes so far.

Amidst these incessant attacks, Chinmoy Das has emerged as a ray of hope for the suffering Hindu community. Chinmoy Prabhu, as he is frequently referred to, is the President of the Pundarik Dham in Bangladesh and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot. The Pundarik Dham in Chattogram is considered as one of the two holiest pilgrimage places for Hindus in Bangladesh.

With the Yunus regime pandering to radical Islamists, the 39-year-old Hindu priest fighting for the rights of his community has risen to prominence. In a span of four months, Chinmoy Krishna Das has become the biggest leader of Hindus in Bangladesh. In fact, the monk’s charisma has not just drawn lakhs to rally at his single call, but also made him one of the main targets of Islamists.

Chinmoy has also been at the head of an eight-point demand, pressing for minority rights in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Among the demands are a tribunal to prosecute those who oppress minorities, bringing a law on minority protection, and establishing a ministry for minorities.

Recently the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot, held a massive rally in Chattogram on October 25 to press forward for their 8-point demand. The show of strength by Hindus did not go down well with the radical Islamists, and the Yunus regime proceeded to file a case of sedition against Das and 17 other Hindu leaders.

With Das being detained by the Bangladesh authorities, tens of thousands of Hindus have come out in protest across Bangladesh for the withdrawal of cases against the Hindu leaders. The case has ended up uniting the Hindu community in support of the Hindu priest. Das has undoubtedly risen as a face of the Hindu resistance in Bangladesh. As the Hindu community sees a grave danger of a repeat of the 1971 violence, Chinmoy Das is one of the few Hindu leaders attempting to stand in the way.