DHAKA  –  Police in Bangladesh have used tear gas against Hindus protesting against the arrest of a religious leader as neighbouring India called for ensuring the safety of Hindus and minorities in the Muslim-majority nation. Chinmoy Krishna Das, also known as Krishna Das Prabhu, was arrested at Dhaka airport last Monday on charges including sedition. A court in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday denied bail to the priest associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), widely known as the Hare Krishna movement.

According to the city’s police, more than 2,000 supporters surrounded the van and blocked its path for some time when Das was being escorted back to prison from court. The demonstrators threw bricks at the police and officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, said Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Hasib Aziz, who added no one was seriously hurt. Das’s arrest set off protests by his supporters in both Chittagong, the country’s second-largest city, and the capital, Dhaka. India noted the arrest and denial of bail with “deep concern”. The neighbouring Hindu-majority country’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the incident follows attacks on Hindus and other minorities, along with places of worship, by “extremist elements in Bangladesh”. It said the perpetrators of those incidents remain at large while Bangladeshi authorities pressed charges against “a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings”. Sedition charges were filed against Das in October after he led a large rally in Chittagong, during which it is accused he disrespected Bangladesh’s national flag. The rally was aimed at demanding justice for Hindus facing targetedattacks in Bangladesh and seeking better protections for minorities.

The interim government, which took over in the aftermath of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s flight from the country on August 5 amid a mass uprising against her rule earlier this year, has said the threat to Hindus is being exaggerated and they are working on the issue. While there was large-scale looting and the ransacking of national monuments and government buildings in the wake of Hasina’s overthrow, student leaders who spearheaded the protests had also asked supporters to guard Hindu temples and churches. More than 90 percent of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim, with Hindus – many of who support Hasina’s Awami League party – making up almost all of the rest. “We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression,” the Indian ministry said. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: Hindu activists hold placards and Indian national flags, and protest attacks in Bangladesh on religious places, in Ahmedabad. (Reuters)