Bangladesh news highlights: Indian envoy summoned over Agartala consulate breach

Tensions continued to brew over the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Das Krishna in Bangladesh, with the former ISKCON leader’s bail hearing being postponed due to unavailablity of any lawyer to represent him.

Meanwhile, situation in the consulate breach matter in Agartala remained grim. Dhaka even summoned the Indian envoy over the incident and later suspended the visa services in the Agartala mission.

The Assam Congress’ women wing on Thursday alleged that the “wrong” foreign policy of the Centre has made it “ineffective” in pursuing the authorities of Bangladesh in providing security to Hindus there.

Congress’ state women’s wing president Mira Borthakur participated in a protest in Guwahati and said, We demand that our prime minister must sit with Bangladesh leaders and ensure safety of Hindus in the neighbouring country.”

ISKCON Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das reacted to the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das and told PTI, “The whole matter is very shocking, we were expecting that Chinmoy Krishna Das’ case will be heard today and we were very hopeful that he will get a bail, but we heard that none of his lawyers could reach the court.”

“The second most shocking thing is that the next date has been given after one month, which is a very long month. For a monk to be living inside a jail is not easy,” Das added.

The Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura’s Agartala on Tuesday announced the suspension of all visa and consular services with immediate effect until further notice because of “security reasons”.

This comes just a day after the commission’s premises was breached by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Tuesday, asked the Bangladesh government to stop injustices and assaults against Hindus in the country.

He said the reputation of the current head of the country’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, should remain untarnished.

The Bangladesh interim government on Tuesday summoned Indian High Commissioner in the country Pranay Verma to the Foreign Affairs Ministry office in Dhaka.

This comes amid tensions between both the countries since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August. The latest flashpoint came when Hindu monk Chinmoy Das was arrested late last month on sedition charges.

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Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, earlier in the day, expressed concern over the alleged attacks on the minority communities of Bangladesh, which has been taking place for months.

“In this matter we are with our government. We should take some steps to ensure safety and security of the minority of Bangladesh,” Ranjan told PTI.

Pranay Verma, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, met with Dhaka’s interim government’s acting foreign secretary on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Verma said that the meeting was part of their regular exchanges. “We have such a wide-ranging and multi-faceted relationship with Bangladesh that you cannot reduce it to one issue or one agenda. We really want to build a positive, stable and constructive relationship moving forward,” he said.

Verma further added, “There are so many inter-dependencies we have and we want to build on those to mutual benefit. We have maintained a lot of positive momentum in the relationship. We are willing to engage with the interim govt of Bangladesh and we remain interested in working with Bangladesh to fulfil our shared aspirations for peace, security and development.”

Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, is set to give a call for national unit, The Daily Star reported.

The call comes amid reports of the alleged attacks on minorities in the nation following the arrest of former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was detained under sedition charges.

All consular services at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala will remain suspended until further notice because of security reasons, an official of the mission said on Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after the Bangladesh mission’s premises was breached by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in the neighbouring country.

Bangladesh on Tuesday summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma to the Foreign Affairs Ministry office in Dhaka amid ongoing unrest in the country after Hindu monk Chinmoy Das’ arrest, Agartala Consulate breach.

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan on Tuesday raised concerns regarding the Bangladesh issue, in the context of a recent incident where several monks were reportedly stopped from entering the country and said that the government should intervene on the matter and urged steps to be taken to gather information about the safety of those involved, ANI reported.

Terming the vandalism at Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in Agartala as India’s “failure,” law adviser in the interim government Asif Nazrul on Tuesday asked New Delhi to reassess its neighbour afresh after the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina regime, PTI reported.

ISKCON Kolkata VP Radharamn has claimed that one of the lawyers representing monk Chinmoy Das was brutally attacked after the hearing on the day of his arrest. HT could not independently verify the claims at this time.

On West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s call to send UN Peacekeeping Force to curb the unrest in Bangladesh, Congress MP Shahi Tharoor said, “I am not sure if she fully understands the role of UN peacekeepers. Having worked in UN peacekeeping myself, for many years, I can tell you that UN peacekeepers are very rarely sent inside any country except for the request by any country.”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker from West Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday said undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar who have settled in the state and around an atomic energy institute, pose a threat to internal security.

India on Monday described as “deeply regrettable” an incident of breach of premises at the Bangladesh assistant high commission in Agartala. Diplomatic and consular properties should not be targeted under any circumstances, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement

In a parliamentary address, UK MP Priti Patel expressed deep concern over the recent violence in Bangladesh, offering condolences to those affected and called on Keir Starmer government to take “robust action” to protect life and prevent violence.

ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radharaman on Tuesday urged the Bangladesh government to provide security to the advocate of Chinmoy Krishna Das citing the recent attack on his previous advocate.

The petition, filed by lawyer Ekhlas Uddin Bhuiyan, has cited growing concerns over the impact of Indian media on Bangladeshi culture and society.

Radharamn Das, Vice President and spokesperson of ISKCON India, said, “Please pray for Advocate Ramen Roy. His only ‘fault’ was defending Chinmoy Krishna Prabhu in c

Three sub-inspectors were suspended, and a deputy superintendent of police was “closed” and instructed to report to the police headquarters for alleged negligence after the Bangladesh Mission in the state capital was breached, according to West Tripura SP Kiran Kumar K.