The Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) asserted that the denial of bail to ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das by Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Md Saiful Islam, is an attempt to suppress the Hindu minority’s efforts to assert their democratic rights.
Suhas Chakma, Director of the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), said, “The main crime of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sanatan Jagoron Moncho and the principal of Pundarik Dham, is organizing a peaceful protest by the Hindu minorities on 25 October in the historic Lal Dighi ground in Chittagong, seeking justice against violations of the rights of the minorities in Bangladesh.”
“Bangladesh is unable to accept that the Hindu minorities will protest to seek their rights. There is no other reason to arrest and detain in a perverse case of sedition,” he added.
On October 31, 2024, Md Firoz Khan, a former General Secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, filed a private complaint with the Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong.
He accused Chinmoy Brahmachari and 18 others of disrespecting the Bangladeshi national flag during a Hindu community rally held in the New Market area on October 25.
A bare perusal of the two-page complaint (written in Bengali) filed by Md Firoz Khan reveals that the first page solely focuses on describing the accused individuals.
However, the second page, consisting of only half a page of text, makes a serious allegation. It claims that ‘at New Market Zero Point in Chittagong, unknown individuals, acting upon the instigation of the accused persons, placed saffron-coloured ISKCON flags over the national flags displayed by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement.
According to complainant Md Firoz Khan, the putting up of the saffron flag is equivalent to challenging the territorial integrity of Bangladesh and creating disturbance and enmity between the communities/groups.
The complainant, however, provided no evidence whatsoever to substantiate his allegations.
Based on this false and fabricated complaint, Bangladesh Police filed an FIR against Chinmoy Brahmachari and others under several sections of the Bangladesh Penal Code, including Section 124(a) for sedition (punishable by life imprisonment), Section 150 for hiring or conniving at hiring persons for unlawful assembly, Section 109 for abetment, and Section 34 for common intention.
On 25 November 2024, Chinmoy Brahmachari was arrested from the Dhaka Airport at 4.30 pm by the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
According to RRAG, the complaint filed by Firoz Khan failed to provide any evidence suggesting that Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari or any of the other accused were directly involved in the alleged act of placing ISKCON flags over the Bangladeshi national flag.
It claimed that the actual individuals responsible for the alleged act were not identified or named.
“This is a case for effective interventions by all the countries which believe in the rule of law. RRAG shall take up the issue with the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom and all other countries which believe in the rule of law,” Chakma added.
