INDIA on Friday said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities as it expressed serious concern over the "surge" of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus as well as attacks on temples.
New Delhi also hoped that the case relating to Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, arrested in Bangladesh on sedition charge, will be dealt with in a just, fair and transparent manner.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Parliament that India has taken a serious note of incidents of violence against minorities in Bangladesh and that it is the primary responsibility of Dhaka to protect the life and liberty of all the citizens, including minorities.
The relations between India and Bangladesh have come under strain after the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus came to power following the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August amid unrest.
India has been expressing concern over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in that country.
"The primary responsibility for the protection of life and liberty of all citizens of Bangladesh, including minorities, rests with the government of Bangladesh," Jaishankar said, adding that the Indian high commission in Dhaka continues to monitor the situation related to minorities in that country "closely".
Separately, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called upon Bangladesh to take all steps for the protection of minorities and hoped that the case involving arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das will be dealt with in a just, fair and transparent manner.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has consistently and strongly raised with the Bangladeshi government the threats and targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities.
"Our position on the matter is very clear - the interim government must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities," Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
"We are concerned at the surge of extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence and provocation. These developments cannot be dismissed only as media exaggeration. We once again call upon Bangladesh to take all steps for the protection of minorities," he added.
On the arrest of Das, Jaiswal said it is India's expectation that a fair and transparent trial will be ensured in the case.
Das was arrested at Dhaka airport on Monday in connection with a sedition case.
"It is our expectation that he will get a fair and transparent trial and his legal rights will be respected," Jaiswal said.
Bank accounts frozen
Bangladesh's financial authorities have ordered freezing for 30 days the bank accounts of 17 people associated with International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), including its former member Chinmoy Krishna Das, according to media reports on Friday.
Bangladesh Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) sent these directives to different banks and financial institutions on Thursday, suspending all types of transactions in these accounts for a month, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
The BFIU asked the banks and financial institutions to send account-related information, including updated transaction statements of all the accounts of all types of businesses owned by these 17 individuals within the next three working days, it said.
After his arrest, Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chattogram court on Tuesday.
A lawyer was killed in a clash between security personnel and supporters of the Hindu leader.
Das was a former spokesperson of the ISKCON in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh flays Indian media
Bangladesh on Friday claimed India followed "double standards" on protection of minority communities and accused its country's media of conducting an "industrial scale misinformation campaign" against Dhaka.
Bangladesh interim government's law affairs adviser Asif Nazrul in a Facebook post said India's unwarranted concern for Bangladesh continues.
“In India, numerous incidents of brutality on the minority Muslim community is going on. But they don’t have any remorse or embarrassment (over those incidents). This double standard of India is condemnable and objectionable,” Nazrul wrote.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh interim government of Muhammad Yunus urged the country’s journalists to counter “misinformation” in Indian media with “truth”.
Chief adviser Yunus’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said, “We must tell our stories our way else they (Indian media) will set our narrative according to their liking.”
Alam, a former journalist, said in a Facebook post that several Bangladeshi journalists now realised it was time to confront an "industrial scale misinformation campaign" coming from some Indian media outlets and their social media platforms. (PTI)
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