Bangladesh’s main political events have known as for calm following widespread unrest within the nation triggered by the killing of a lawyer throughout clashes between Hindu protesters and safety forces.
Public prosecutor Saiful Islam Alif died on Tuesday as indignant supporters of outspoken Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari — arrested for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag throughout a rally — battled with police when he was denied bail.
Religious relations have been turbulent within the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million individuals since a student-led revolution in August toppled autocratic ex-premier minister Sheikh Hasina, who then fled to India.
The Bangladeshi National Party (BNP) and Jamaat-i-Islami — Hasina’s two fundamental opponents throughout her 15-year tenure — have urged restraint.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was quoted at this time by the every day Prathom Alo as having mentioned {that a} “defeated fascist group” was behind the newest flare-up, a reference to Hasina’s Awami League.
“This incident is totally unwarranted,” he advised the newspaper. “We strongly condemn it and urge everybody to method the state of affairs calmly.”
Shafiqur Rahman of Jamaat blamed the continued unrest on a “vested group plotting to destabilise the nation”.
Street protests have nonetheless been known as to demand a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a transnational Hindu spiritual group also referred to as the Hare Krishna motion that Das reportedly belonged to.
Hefazat-i-Islam, a collective of Islamic seminaries, held a rally at this time to demand the group’s prohibition, alleging it was a entrance to return Hasina to energy on behalf of India, her ousted authorities’s largest benefactor.
“There is a meticulously designed plan to instigate communal riots in Bangladesh and ISKCON is right here to implement it on behalf of India and Sheikh Hasina,” Mamunul Haque of Hefazat-i-Islam advised supporters in the course of the rally.
Hasina demanded Das’s “speedy launch” from custody earlier this week and known as his arrest “unlawful”, BBC reported.
The ex-premier additionally condemned the killing of the lawyer, calling it a “blatant violation of human rights”.
India has described Das’s arrest and denial of bail as “unlucky”.
But ISKCON denies any connections to Das.
“We expelled Chinmoy lengthy earlier than the case was filed towards him for breaching ISKCON’s self-discipline,” the group’s Bangladesh president Satya Ranjan Barai advised AFP on Friday.
“He was relieved of his duties, however he defied the order and continued his actions.”
Bangladesh’s prime courtroom on Thursday dismissed a petition calling for a ban on ISKCON.
“Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians … consider in coexistence, and this concord is not going to be damaged,” the courtroom dominated.
