The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh issued a statement on Saturday calling for an immediate end to atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. Protests and counter-protests have raged throughout the country this week following the arrest and imprisonment of a Hindu priest. The RSS statement also lambasted the current Bangladesh government and its agencies for remaining silent and failing to take action against these attacks.
“The attacks, murders, looting, arson, as well as inhuman atrocities by Islamic fundamentalists on Hindus, women and all other minorities in Bangladesh, are extremely worrying and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh condemns this. The present Bangladesh government and other agencies are merely silent spectators instead of stopping this,” read the statement from RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.
Meanwhile the Ministry of External Affairs voiced concern over the rise of “extremist rhetoric” and increasing violence during a briefing on Friday. The MEA said that India had consistently and strongly raised the issue of targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities with Bangladesh government.
The missive also urged the Bangladesh government to “immediately stop” atrocities against Hindus and release Chinmoy Krishna Das from jail. RSS also called for the Indian government to continue its efforts to stop the atrocities against minorities and take steps to “create global opinion in its support”.
Bangladesh Police arrested former ISKON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari on Monday from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka while he was travelling to Chittagong. He was later sent to jail without bail — sparking immediate protests that left one person dead and several others injured.
“A new phase of injustice and atrocities seems to be emerging against the Hindus of Bangladesh to suppress the voice raised by them in a democratic way for self-defense…It is unjust for the Bangladesh government to send ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is leading the Hindus in such peaceful demonstrations, to jail,” Hosabale added.