Police on Tuesday filed the chargesheet against 38 people, including Sanatani Jagran Jote spokesperson and former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Prabhu Das Brahmachari, in the case of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif being hacked and beaten to death on the street in Chattogram last year.
The investigation officer claims that the lawyer was killed on November 26 at the instigation and instruction of Chinmoy Prabhu, who was inside the prison on the court premises during a clash that led to the tragic murder.
The Hindu leader was arrested in a flawed and politically motivated sedition case on November 25, three days after his grand rally in Rangpur, demanding justice for minority persecution since the August 5 changeover.
The police and Jamaat-controlled government supporters tried to prevent the leaders from attending the rally. People going to the rally were dragged down from buses, while the guests were forced to leave hotels in the city the previous night.
Angered by his strong campaigns, top leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP), Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam demanded his arrest and branded ISKCON as a terrorist group supporting the Awami League.
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On November 26, Chinmoy Prabhu was produced before the Chittagong court for a bail hearing. But the court rejected his bail and ordered him to be jailed. When the prison van started to leave the premises, his followers obstructed the vehicle for around three hours and also vandalised motorcycles and other vehicles.
Later, the policeโaccompanied by lawyers, mostly from BNP and Jamaatโcharged batons on the protesters and used sound grenades to clear the court premises. At that time, during a chase and counter-chase, lawyer Alif was killed in a nearby alley.
On May 5, Chinmoy Prabhu was shown arrested in the murder case based on a police application. Currently, all the accused are in Chattogram jail.
Alifโs father, Jamal Uddin, filed the murder case, naming 31 people, with the Kotwali police station.
Four of them have been excluded from the chargesheet as their involvement was found. They are Gagan Das, Vishal Das, Raj Kapoor and Sukant. Moreover, 10 other names have been added after investigation.
The next hearing in the case is August 10.
On June 3, a Chattogram court rejected all five bail petitions, which were submitted seeking his bail on health grounds.
Earlier, Chinmoy Prabhu was granted bail in a sedition case on May 1. But the Chamber Judge of the Supreme Court stayed the bail order the same day after the prosecution filed an application in the absence of the defense counsel. After a few hours, the judge changed his mind. In a suo moto rule, he withdrew his order, pending a hearing.
The prosecution argues that Chinmoy Prabhu could interfere in the investigation proceedings if he were released from jail. He may also flee.
Chinmoy Prabhu alias Chinmoy Krishna Das alias Chandan Kumar Dhar is blamed for speaking up against the planned violence against the minority communities across the country, including Chattogramโs Hazari Lane incident. He organised protest marches in Dhaka and grand rallies in divisional cities to unite the Hindus.
Such brutal attacks have continued to date. In the last few days, a Hindu woman was raped and filmed in Cumilla, a father and his son were beaten by a mob alleging blasphemy in Lalmonirhat, Hindu settlements and temples were attacked in several districts, including Abhaynagar of Jashore, with the government keeping a blind eye.
A mockery of justice
Chinmoy Prabhuโs inflammatory speech at the Rangpur rally on November 22 created a stir. He cited historical incidents of repression, concrete facts of attacks by Islamists, and the inaction of the police and the administration in preventing the attacks and carrying out a proper investigation.
He demanded action against the perpetrators, compensation for the victims, and protection of the minorities.
The government decided to silence him. After three days, detectives arrested him in a sedition case, filed on October 31, for disrespecting the national flag during the grand rally in Chattogram on October 25.
A local BNP leader filed the case, bypassing the Home Ministryโs authorisation, alleging that a Bangladesh flag was defamed by putting an ISKCON flag atop it.
However, the police couldnโt produce the flags or file an investigation report. The red and green flag had a moon and stars in it, while the ISKCON flag was on a separate stand, as seen in a video of the rally.
Following Alifโs death, the jihadist threats were so intense that ISKCON held a press conference on November 28 to confirm that Chinmoy was not part of the religious organisation. They also said the demand to ban ISKCON Bangladesh for Chinmoy Krishnaโs activities is not reasonable.
On October 3, ISKCON officially stated that Chinmoy Krishna Das is not their spokesperson. Therefore, his statement is completely personal. In July 2024, ISKCON expelled him for not adhering to its discipline.
Culture of denial
The interim government claims that a vested quarter is spreading lies of communal attacks to malign it. It mainly blames Indian media and pro-government activists for disinformation campaigns regarding the minority repression.
The chief adviser and his spokesperson maintain that the attacks on minorities were mostly political revenge attacks on the Awami League supporters and celebrations of the fall of the government, but not of a communal nature.
However, according to the findings of investigations carried out by Prothom Aloโs correspondents all over the country (64 districts and 67 upazilas), at least 1,068 attacks on the minority community took place in 49 districts from August 5 to 20, of which 560 had no links to the Awami League.
The Daily Star reported that Hindu houses and business establishments were attacked and looted by mobs in at least 27 districts on August 5.
US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in January that there are repeated allegations of violent attacks against Hindus and other minorities and that the police have failed to ensure protection.
The pro-Yunus Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said religious and ethnic minorities, marginalised communities, and those with dissenting opinions have become victims of violence. Six people died, and hundreds were injured in clashes and arson incidents between Bengalis and tribals in Khagrachhari and Rangamati.
Even the biased and incomplete report by the OHCHR said: โHindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts were also subjected to human rights abuses. While some 100 arrests in relation to attacks on distinct religious and indigenous groups have reportedly been made, the perpetrators of many other acts of revenge violence and attacks on such groups still enjoy impunity.โ
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