‘Disgraceful’: Sadhguru Slams Arrest of Hindu Monk in Bangladesh, Presses For Democratic Values – News18

Last Updated:November 26, 2024, 12:34 IST

Sadhguru has slammed the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in Bangladesh, calling it ‘disgraceful’.

Spiritual teacher and founder of the Isha Leadership Academy, Sadhguru, on Tuesday, termed “disgraceful”, the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in Bangladesh.

Sadhguru also urged all Bangladeshi citizens to “build back a democratic nation”.

“It is disgraceful to see how a democratic nation is disintegrating to become theocratic and autocratic,” Sadhguru wrote on X.

“It is the responsibility of every citizen to understand the value of having an open democracy. Persecution on the basis of religion or weakness of demographics is not the way of democratic nations,” he wrote.

“Unfortunately, our neighborhood has slipped away from democratic principles. It should be the responsibility of every citizen of Bangladesh to build back a democratic nation where all citizens will have the needed rights and ability to fulfill their lives as per their requirements and beliefs,” the post read.

Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, was on Monday arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka.

“Das was detained in line with a request from (regular police),” news agency PTI quoted a spokesman of the Police’s Detective Branch Rezaul Karim.

Karim said Das would now be handed over to the concerned police station for subsequent legal procedure.

The incident was confirmed after Iskcon, in an X post, urged the Indian government to immediately speak to the government of Bangladesh, and said the organisation had nothing to do with terrorism.

“We have come across disturbing reports that Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das, one of the prominent leaders of ISKCON Bangladesh, has been detained by the Dhaka police.”

“It is outrageous to make baseless allegations that ISKCON has anything to do with terrorism anywhere in the world. ISKCON,Inc. urges the Government of India to take immediate steps and speak to the Government of Bangladesh and convey that we are a peace-loving Bhakti movement,” it wrote.

“We want the Government of Bangladesh to release Chinmoy Krishna Das immediately. Our prayers to Lord Krishna for the protection of these devotees,” (sic), it added.

Das was detained at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Karim said, without giving details of the charges for which he was arrested.

Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported that Das was a leader of ISKCON, which recently expelled him.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council condemned the detention, saying it could affect the country’s image abroad.

Citing Sanatani Jagran Jote’s key organiser, Gaurang Das Brahmachari, Bdnews24 news portal said that Das was supposed to go to Chattogram by air from Dhaka, PTI reported.

On October 30, a case was filed against 19 people, including Das, at Chattogram’s Kotwali Police Station, accusing them of disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag in Chattogram’s New Market area during a rally of the Hindu community.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the Hindu community took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city, demanding the immediate release of Das.