BJP declares agitation at India-Bangladesh border against alleged attacks
BJP MLAs from North 24 Parganas said their agitation is apolitical and Congress and Left leaders were welcome to take part
Amid agitations in West Bengal over the arrest of ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges and alleged attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have announced an agitation at the Petrapole international border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Monday.
The Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, a national organisation of Hindu monks, will also hold an agitation at the same location on Monday.
The parallel agitations were announced on Sunday amid protests across West Bengal by the Hindu Jagran Manch and other Hindutva groups.
BJP MLAs from North 24 Parganas, Ashok Kirtania and Swapan Majumdar said their agitation is apolitical and Congress and Left leaders were welcome to take part.
"This is an apolitical movement. Congress and Left can join it too if they want. Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the legislative assembly, will be present at Petrapole," Kirtania said.
Bengal BJP general secretary Agnimitra Paul said, “The interim government in Bangladesh has allowed attacks on Hindus. It has to face the consequences. Millions of Hindus in India will not sit silent.”
On Wednesday, while leading a protest at the Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata, Adhikari threatened to stop trade between the two nations by blocking movement of goods through land ports in the bordering districts.
"Our agitation will continue at Petrapole until the Bangladesh government takes action to stop attacks on Hindus and temples. The ISKCON monk was arrested because Md Yunus (head of the interim government) is scared by the Hindu uprising following these attacks," Swami Paramatmananda, president of the Bengal chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, said on Sunday.
The movements were announced amid allegation by ISKCON that Shyam Das, a young monk, was arrested when he went to Chittagong jail to give food and medicines to Chinmoy Krishna Das.
"This monk went to the jail only to give food and medicine. Special prayers have started from Sunday at all 450 ISKCON temples in 150 countries. People across the globe are demanding the release of our monks," Radharaman Das, vice-president of the ISKCON Kolkata unit, said.
Accused by BJP of being silent, Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress said the agitations should be held in Delhi because an international issue can be taken up only by the Centre.
"Bengal's BJP leaders should agitate before the Prime Minister and not at Petrapole. Only the Centre can take up the issue. Our chief minister has already said the state government will follow the Centre's decisions on Bangladesh. Is the BJP encouraging these agitations in West Bengal for political gains?" TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
The BJP leaders became more vocal after Sayan Ghosh, a resident of Belghoria on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, alleged on Sunday that he was assaulted by some people in Dhaka on November 26.
"I went to visit a friend. These people attacked me the moment I disclosed my identity. I somehow managed to return on November 30," Ghosh told a Bengali news channel.
"The attack on an Indian passport holder travelling on valid visa tantamount to an attack on India. I will move our ministry of external affairs," Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said.
Arrested at Dhaka airport on November 25, Chinmoy Krishna Das heads several organisations representing the minority Hindus. He had been protesting against alleged attacks on the minority communities during and after the mass movement that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and leave Bangladesh on August 4.
Das and 18 others were charged with sedition. He was denied bail and remanded in judicial custody by a court in Chittagong. The arrests were followed by mass protests in at least four cities in Bangladesh and a Muslim lawyer was murdered.
On Thursday, the Dhaka high court refused to issue a suo motu order to ban ISKCON. The petition demanding the ban was moved by Md Monir Uddin, a lawyer. Citing media reports, he alleged that Das insulted the flag of Bangladesh during a rally in Chittagong.
Hours after the Dhaka high court announced its decision, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an adviser to the interim government, held a press conference and said the government has no plan to ban ISKCON.
These developments, however, did not stop the Islamic groups in Bangladesh from demanding actions against ISKCON.
On Friday, thousands of followers of Hefazat-e-Islam took out a rally through the heart of Dhaka demanding that ISKCON must be declared a fundamentalist outfit and banned by the interim government.