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Published : 28 Nov 2024, 08:12 PM
ISKCON Bangladesh’s General Secretary Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari has rejected allegations linking the Hindu religious organisation to the killing of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif in Chattogram and ongoing protests led by the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, or United Sanatan Awakening Alliance.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the Swamibagh Ashram, Charu Das described the Chattogram incident as "unfortunate" and claimed that there was an "unfair attempt" to falsely implicate ISKCON.
“We want to make it clear that ISKCON Bangladesh has no involvement whatsoever in this heinous incident or the ongoing protests. The lies have now reached such an extent that even road accidents are being falsely portrayed as part of ISKCON’s conspiracy,” he said.
This official statement came after calls from different quarters in Bangladesh to ban ISKCON, following the murder of lawyer Saiful.
ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was founded in 1966 by Hindu religious leader Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in New York.
The organisation follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism and currently has over 50,000 temples and centres worldwide, with notable membership growth in the United States, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the principal of the ISKCON-run temple Pundarik Dham in Chattogram, is leading an organisation called the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote.
Since the change in power in August, the alliance has been vocal in demanding an end to minority persecution, among other eight key demands.
On Oct 30, a sedition case was filed against Chinmoy Das and 19 others for an incident involving the placement of a saffron flag over the national flag.
Police detained Chinmoy from Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on Monday.
On Tuesday, a Chattogram court denied him bail and ordered his remand, leading to protests by the Hindu community outside the court.
The protest lasted for around two and a half hours before police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd. During the running battles between protesters and court lawyers and staff, lawyer Saiful was killed.
A coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement called for the banning of ISKCON in Bangladesh.
A lawyer also filed a writ petition in the High Court demanding the same, although the higher court did not issue any such order.
Charu Das said ISKCON had made its position clear in several press conferences and had communicated directly with government officials to deny the accusations.
He said, “However, certain quarters are deliberately spreading false propaganda against our organisation and making unreasonable demands to ban ISKCON."
On Wednesday evening, a truck struck a car in the convoy of Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway as they were returning from the funeral of lawyer Saiful.
The incident was later hinted as an "attempted murder" by two coordinators of the movement, who posted about it on Facebook.
Charu Das said since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime on Aug 5, certain groups have been making "misleading statements and baseless allegations" to "create instability in society" and "discredit" their organisation.
He added that the Prabartak Sri Krishna Temple’s Principal Leelaraj Gour Das, member Swatantra Gourang Das, and the Pundrik Dham’s Principal Chinmoy Das, were relieved from all organisational duties and positions within ISKCON months ago for "violating organisational discipline”. Therefore, their activities are not part of ISKCON's operations.
