Islamists in Bangladesh continue to target the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), with growing demand to ban the organisation. On Thursday, several Islamic political parties came together to demand to ban ISKCON, calling it an “extremist organization” and blaming it for the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam.
The demand by Muslim groups was made during a press conference organized by them at the National Press Club on Thursday. However, they clarified that they were only targeting ISKCON, and it does not mean they are targeting the Hindu community in Bangladesh. Abdul Rabb Yusuf, vice president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, said in a written statement that criticising ISKCON does not mean criticizing the Hindu community.
“Our Hindu brothers and sisters should be cautious not to fall into Iskcon’s trap,” he said describing ISKCON as a “militant communal organization”. In the statement issued on behalf of all the Islamic parties, Yusuf claimed that the Hindu organisation is trying to trigger communal conflict in the country for its own interests.
The organisations made three main demands at the meeting, ISKCON should be banned in Bangladesh as an extremist organisation, a fair trial for the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam and “all crimes organized by ISKCON”, and that those attempting to incite communal violence must be swiftly brought to justice.
The demands to ban ISKCON have been growing in Bangladesh, and a group of Supreme Court lawyers have also made the demand, calling it a ‘radical organisation’. However, Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh High Court dismissed a plea to issue an order to ban ISKCON.
The court’s refusal came a day after the Bangladesh government had filed a writ petition to ban ISKCON, terming it a “religious fundamentalist organisation.” Bangladesh govt took the step after violence that was triggered by the arrest of expelled ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari.
The govt told the court during the hearing that three separate cases have been filed in connection with the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif and ISKCON’s activities. 33 accused have been arrested so far in these cases.
Chinmoy Das was arrested in a sedition case for allegedly disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag during a rally in October. His arrest triggered clashes on Tuesday, and Advocate Saiful Islam, an assistant public prosecutor, was killed in the violence.
ISKCON has refuted allegations that it was behind the death of the lawyer, and has also distanced itself from the activities of Chinmoy Das, saying that he was removed from his posts several months ago. ISKCON Bangladesh’s General Secretary Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari called the Chattogram incident, in which Saiful Islam died, as unfortunate, and alleged that there was an unfair attempt to falsely implicate ISKCON for the death.
He said, “A series of false, fabricated, and malicious campaigns have been targeting ISKCON Bangladesh, particularly in connection with recent events. These efforts are aimed at discrediting our organisation and creating societal unrest.”
Charu Chandra Das also said that certain individuals, including Chinmoy Krishna Das, Lilraj Gaur Das and Swatantra Gauranga Das, had been previously removed from the organisation for violating its rules, and the organisation has no link with their activities. He said that their actions were personal and not connected to ISKCON.
