ISKCON monks persecuted by Bangladesh police for attempting to give medicines to another Hindu monk in jail

Case ID : 5954881 | Location : Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sat, 30 November, 2024

Case ID : 5954881

Bangladesh

30 November, 2024

ISKCON monks persecuted by Bangladesh police for attempting to give medicines to another Hindu monk in jail

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

Days after Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested and charged with sedition in Bangladesh, two additional ISKCON monks, who had gone to deliver medicines to him in jail, were also arrested on December 1. The Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jot confirmed the arrests, identifying the monks as Sri Adi Purush Shyam Das, Chinmoy’s assistant, and devotee Ranganath Das Brahmachari Prabhu. ISKCON Kolkata’s vice-president and spokesperson, Radharamn Das, condemned the arrests, describing them as "shocking and disturbing" and called on the Bangladesh government to ensure the safety of minorities. Radharamn Das shared a photograph of Shyam Das on social media, saying, “Does he look like a terrorist? #FreeISKCONMonks Bangladesh."

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community. In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organisations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favour of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization which aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated to a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate and would therefore be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Attack for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The removal of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on August 5 escalated the persecution and marginalisation of the Hindu minority in the predominantly Islamic nation, intensifying what can be described as a silent genocide. Since her ouster, Islamists have carried out unchecked atrocities against Hindus, including physical violence, the destruction of temples and religious symbols, and the systematic displacement of Hindus from their ancestral lands. Over 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops, and businesses have been recorded following Sheikh Hasina's removal as Prime Minister. Many Hindus have been brutally murdered or injured in these assaults. Amidst this ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, the government has increasingly targeted ISKCON monks, further exacerbating the plight of the community. The recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das on charges of sedition, followed by the detention of Sri Adi Purush Shyam Das and Ranganath Das Brahmachari Prabhu, demonstrates the government's relentless focus on silencing religious leaders who advocate for Hindu rights. These arrests are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of systemic discrimination and hostility faced by Hindu minorities in the country, and this is why this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.