‘Worrying’: India-Bangladesh ties tested by mounting communal violence
Amid unrest surrounding the arrest of a Hindu priest, analysts fear violence and growing religious divides are ‘taking the region backwards’
The arrest on November 25 of Hindu priest and community leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, who had been leading rallies demanding security for Hindus in Bangladesh amid the country’s political turmoil, has triggered a fresh cycle of violence that has dashed hopes of an early restoration of law and order under the interim government.
In response to Das’ detention, Hindu community members staged protests on the streets of Dhaka. These demonstrations have provoked retaliatory attacks by police and members of the majority Muslim community, according to reports.
The unrest centring around Das, a former member of the religious group International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), is growing. Indian media reported earlier this month that his lawyer was critically injured in a mob attack and 63 Iskcon monks holding valid visas were blocked from travelling to India by Bangladesh.
Violence has spilled across the border following the incidents, with a Hindu mob earlier this week breaking into the premises of a Bangladeshi diplomatic mission in India’s northeastern state of Tripura, destroying property and desecrating the Bangladeshi flag.
Hundreds of people led by Hindu monks in the eastern Indian metropolis of Kolkata staged a march to the Bangladesh High Commission, resulting in scuffles with the police, while India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to hold protests near the border.
