The tensions between India and Bangladesh are only compounding, as now Bangladeshi tourists travelling to the India state of Tripura will not be able to book hotels or enjoy meals at restaurants, as the All Tripura Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association has announced a temporary ban on their entry into hotels and food outlets in the state. The top association of the travel sector in the northeast released a statement on Monday, December 2, temporarily banning Bangladeshi tourists from entering its hotels and restaurants.
After the announcement, association members have been actively putting up posters at the hotel front desks and restaurants to spread the word. “We are putting up posters at hotel front desks barring Bangladeshi nationals from entering the hotel premises, and we have ramped up our security checks,” Bhaskar Chakraborty, secretary of the association, told News18.
The decision follows protests in Agartala, Tripura against the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, which also saw a breach at the Bangladesh assistant high commission, drawing condemnation from the ministry of external affairs. Since the Bangladesh authorities took Chinmoy Das into detention on sedition charges, thousands of people took out a massive rally in Tripura’s capital Agartala on Monday. The rally was taken out under the banner of Hindu Sangharsh Samity, linked to Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The situation grew tense when over 50 protesters reportedly entered the premises of the Bangladeshi mission in Agartala, reported PTI.
Speaking to reporters, VHP’s Tripura chapter secretary Sankar Roy said, “Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, attacks are being carried out on Hindu temples and Hindu houses and businesses are being looted in Bangladesh.”
The India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties have worsened over the past few days due to a government crackdown on ISKCON leaders. The Bangladesh police began by detaining former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das. Over the past few days, two more ISKCON leaders have been arrested, its vice president Radharamn Das told PTI on Saturday, November 30. “I have received information that two more ISKCON monks have been arrested by police in Bangladesh,” Radharamn Das told PTI.
“In the meantime, bad news has come: two devotees who went with prasad for Chinmaya Prabhu were arrested on their way back to the temple, and Chinmaya prabhu’s secretary is also missing. Please pray for them.” Radharamn wrote in a post on X.
Hindu priest Chinmoy Das is a popular figure amongst Bangladeshi Hindus, he commands a huge following and is a vocal advocate of Hindu rights in Bangladesh. He was also at the head of an eight point proposal propagating minority rights in the Bangladesh nation. A spokesperson for Bangladesh’s Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, Das was arrested at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on November 25 while heading to Chattogram to attend a rally. He was denied bail and sent to jail. So far even his lawyer has been targeted by radicals as he remain in detention and under trial without a lawyer representing him in court.
