Although most groups raised their eyebrows on the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu in Dhaka, Shafikul Islam, press secretary to the Bangladeshi Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, eased tension, saying that Hindus of Bangladesh is “safe” and there is no danger of the minority group in Bangladesh in the future. This he said during an interview with a news agency while dismissing the issue of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh to avoid being banned by the government.
The statements given by Shafikul Islam are made at a time when there is already conflict with the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, an ex-ISKCON priest, on a sedition charge. The event aroused calls from some quarters to have ISKCON banned, thus greatly provoking the agitated followers. To these fears, Islam said: “I do not know the specifics of the case trial. However, ISKCON will not be banned in Bangladesh.” This was backed up by the Bangladesh High Court ruling on Thursday to throw out a lawyer’s petition to have ISKCON banned in the country following alleged violations.
On the question of minority security in particular, Islam underscored the measures that the government had taken to keep the peace between the various communities. He accepted there were some disturbances in Chattogram in the recent past after Das refused bail. Nevertheless, he stressed that the situation is now stable and confident that the government will try to provide Das a fair trial.
Islam also gave reference to acts of anticipatory diplomacy conducted by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus such as public visits to Hindu temples and meeting with the Hindu leaders to listen to their complaints. He referred to such reports of unrest as an “industrial-level disinformation campaign” and urged reporters to cover the situation on the ground. Islam’s reassurances are to remove the apprehensions and plunge the minority communities of Bangladesh with confidence.
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