The Jamaat-controlled interim government has continued its abuse of the law to keep in jail Hindu rights leader and former ISKCON member Chinmoy Prabhu Brahmachari, as his bail prayers in five separate cases, including the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, have been rejected summarily.
Chinmoy Prabhu is blamed for speaking up against the planned persecution of the minority communities since August 5. He organised several rallies across the country to unite the Hindus for their rights.
Such attacks have continued to date. Last week, Hindu settlements and temples were attacked in at least three districts, with the government keeping a blind eye.
Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique rejected all five bail petitions, which were submitted seeking bail on health grounds, on Tuesday.
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.
After a few hours, the judge changed his mind. In a suo moto rule, he withdrew his order, pending a hearing. The fiasco occurred because no lawyers represented the accused.
Meanwhile, Yunusโ Jatiya Nagorik Party leaders threatened the court with dire consequences if Chinmoy Prabhu got bail.
The following day, a Chittagong court sent him to jail in five cases, including the murder case.
The NCP leaders and Islamist groups have been campaigning against Chinmoy and ISKCON after he started organising rallies in Dhaka and divisional cities to drum up public support against minority persecution.
The prosecution argues that Chinmoy, the spokesman for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, could interfere in the investigation proceedings if he were released from jail. He may also flee.
The sedition case was filed on October 31, for disrespecting the national flag during their Chittagong rally on October 25.
Chinmoy Prabhu alias Chinmoy Krishna Das alias Chandan Kumar Dhar later spoke at a mammoth rally in Rangpur and demanded proper investigation into the incidents of attacks and compensation.
The police and 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.
Mockery of justice
On November 25, detectives arrested him in Dhaka in connection with the sedition case, three days after the Rangpur rally.
The following day, he 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 carrying Chinmoy 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 and sound grenades to clear the court premises.
At that time, during a chase and counter-chase, lawyer Mohammad Saiful Islam Alif was killed by some people in a nearby alley.
Apart from Chinmoy Prabhu, dozens of other Hindus have been arrested in the six cases.
Chinmoy Prabhuโs lawyers argue that he was shown arrested in five cases. The incidents occurred when he was in police custody.
“When the High Court made its rule absolute in another case, in a sedition case. A day later, he was shown arrested in this case. Which is mala fide intention. Where he has no charges,โ defense lawyer Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya said.
โHe is extremely ill. I told the court that he is suffering from liver cirrhosis. Now he needs treatment. An application has been filed for this. The court rejected the bail application after the hearing. Of course, we will take appropriate legal action. We will apply for bail in the Honourable Metropolitan Sessions Court.”
Rights activists say Chinmoy Prabhu was talking about minority persecution perpetrated by the Islamist extremist groups supporting the Yunus-led interim government since the August 5 changeover.
His 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.
The Jamaat-controlled administration, its student gangs, and radical Islamists got frustrated as they continued to deny incidents of a communal nature and tried to justify the attacks by citing them as political revenge against the Awami League (as if political attacks are permitted by law).
So, a false sedition case was filed by a BNP leader in Chittagong, bypassing the Home Ministry authorisation, to claim that a Bangladesh flag was defamed by putting an ISKCON flag atop it, leading to the arrest of the most vocal human rights activist.
However, the police couldnโt produce the flags or file an investigation report.
His lawyers say the sedition case filed on charges of flag desecration is baseless. The flags were on separate stands.
Moreover, the red and green flag that is flown under the ISKCON flagโas seen in a video of the rallyโis actually the one with a moon and stars. Therefore, it is not Bangladeshโs flag.
Hatred against Chinmoy, ISKCON
Following the death of Saiful, 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.
Allegations of persecution false?
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, on several occasions, have said that the attacks on minorities were mostly revenge attacks on the former Awami League government supporters and 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, marginalized 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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