Dhaka, Sep 9 (IANS): Bangladesh’s Awami League on Wednesday sharply criticised the ruling BNP government over the continued imprisonment of prominent Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, calling it an act of “extreme brutality and cruelty”, despite his critically ill mother’s desperate plea for his release.
The party demanded the “immediate and unconditional” release of Das, urging the authorities to withdraw the “false cases” against the Hindu leader filed during the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
“Keeping Sadhu Chinmoy Krishna Das imprisoned despite the desperate plea of his dying mother, who is suffering from Stage 4 cancer, is evidence of the ruling establishment’s extreme brutality and cruelty,” said the Awami League.
The party alleged that the interim government arrested Das in “false cases” for speaking out for the legitimate rights of the country’s minorities and Hindu community.
Calling the prevailing situation in Bangladesh “deeply troubling”, it said that the same “injustice, repression, and harassment” witnessed during the tenure of the interim government continues unabated under the current BNP administration.
“On one hand, an innocent monk remains imprisoned under state persecution. On the other, his elderly mother, Sandhya Rani Dhar, is fighting for her life in the HDU of a hospital. The helpless mother, who is suffering from Stage 4 cancer, has suffered another heart attack while undergoing treatment for low blood pressure and severe breathing difficulties,” the Awami League stated.
“Desperate to see her son one last time, she has made an emotional appeal, beginning with the former Yunus government and extending to the top leadership of the BNP government, addressing Tarique Rahman as her own son. But will a mother’s tears and humanitarian appeal be defeated by the arrogance of power?” it questioned.
The party asserted that speaking about the rights of people of one’s own faith in an independent and democratic state cannot be considered a crime.
“Keeping an innocent monk imprisoned for political gain and as part of a policy of repression, while denying a critically ill mother what may be her final wish, is an extreme manifestation of inhumanity,” it added.
Chinmoy Krishna Das, also the spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot, remains behind bars despite securing bail in two cases, with his release blocked by two other cases, local media reported.
Das was arrested in Dhaka on November 25, 2024, and sent to jail the following day after a Chattogram court rejected his bail plea. On December 11, the same court again refused bail in the case.
A High Court bench comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher granted bail on Sunday after hearing two separate bail petitions filed by Das.
