On Monday (16th December), senior Bangladeshi lawyer Rabindra Ghosh said that he has been receiving death threats from Islamists after he decided to represent jailed ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was arrested over ‘sedition’ and other charges last month. Advocate Ghosh said that despite the threats, he would continue his fight for the rights and justice of minorities in Bangladesh.
In a telephone interview with news agency PTI, advocate Rabindra Ghosh said the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh is targeting Chinmoy Krishna Das since he had been vocal about the atrocities against Hindus and was actively working to unite the persecuted minorities in the country.
“I am aware that false cases could be filed against me, but that will not stop me. All my life, I have fought against injustice. I have also fought cases for Muslims and helped them get justice. Death will come one day, but I will continue the fight,” the 74-year-old Supreme Court lawyer said adding that Das’s large public gatherings unnerved the administration.
“That is why fundamentalists and the interim government targeted him. Death will come one day, but I will continue the fight,” he continued.
Emphasising the role of the Hindus in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Rabindra Ghosh lamented that ongoing atrocities against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh undermine the “very principles” of the war, which was fought to end the unfair treatment of subjects of West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
“Since the day I declared that I will be fighting for Chinmoy Krishna Das, I have been receiving life threats. I get regular threat calls and messages, but that will not deter me from performing my duty. I will continue to fight against the injustice meted out to Das and other Hindus,” he said.
OpIndia reported earlier, that the Islamist lawyers in Bangladesh threatened lawyers not to take up Das’s case to represent him in the court and that nearly 70 Hindu lawyers who participated in the case of Chinmoy Krishna Das’s behalf have been falsely booked to prevent them from defending Das.
Amidst Chinmoy Krishna Das’s bail plea being deferred to next month after lawyers refused to represent him, a video of several Bangladeshi lawyers issuing threats to lawyers intending to take up Das’s case surfaced online. In the video, a lawyer accompanied by several other lawyers is reportedly heard saying “If Chinmoy Prabhu has a lawyer, he will be beaten up and his license will be revoked…”
Speaking about an incident in Chittagong court wherein around 40 lawyers caused unrest and tried to attack Rabindra Ghosh, the Supreme Court lawyer said, “How can you frame all the Hindu lawyers who tried to represent Das with false cases? Is this not a travesty of justice? Fundamentalists are beating up lawyers, and the administration is silent. There is no guarantee that I won’t be killed in the future for defending Das.”
Bangladesh arrested former ISKCON monk, head of Sanatan Jagaran Manch and the chief of Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, Chinmoy Krishna Das on November 25.
