Dhaka, December 1 (IANS). Police in Bangladesh on Sunday sent back 54 members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) who were trying to reach India from Benapole border post. However, he had valid travel documents.
According to media, Bangladesh Police did not allow them to proceed citing ‘suspicious travel’. Some people even claimed that the total number of Hindus who reached the border was more than 70.
According to information, Hindu devotees from different parts of Bangladesh had reached the land port located on the international border on Saturday. They wanted to go to India through Benapole-Petrapole crossing.
“We consulted the special branch of the police and got orders from higher authorities not to allow them,” Bangladesh’s English daily Daily Star quoted Imtiaz Ahsanul Kader Bhuiya, officer-in-charge of the Benapole immigration check post, as saying.
The officer-in-charge reportedly said that Bangladeshi authorities did not allow 54 ISKCON members to enter India due to ‘suspicion regarding their travel purposes’.
Many members of the group were asked to wait at the border post since Saturday night. They said they were traveling to India for religious rituals with valid passports and visas, but were sent back on Sunday. Officials have not given any clear reason for the move.
Saurabh Tapandar Cheli, one of the ISKCON members, told the media, “We were going to attend a religious function in India, but the immigration officials stopped us, citing lack of government permission.”
The Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Petrapole on the Indian side was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in July 2016.
Since the formation of the interim government in Bangladesh under the leadership of Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus, minorities, especially Hindus, have been facing serious attacks by Islamic fundamentalists.
Earlier this week, following the arrest of Bangladesh-based Sanatan Jagran Jot spokesperson and ISKCON Bangladesh affiliate Chinmoy Krishna Das and the rejection of his bail plea, there has been arson, looting, theft, vandalism and desecration of houses and business establishments of minorities in the country. Many cases of desecration of deities and temples have come to light.
–IANS
FZ/AKJ
