The External Affairs Ministry, Government of India on Monday said that the breach of premises at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala is “deeply regrettable.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that diplomatic and consular properties should never be subjected to attacks under any circumstances.
The MEA’s statement followed a large demonstration around the Bangladeshi mission in the capital of Tripura, where hundreds protested against the detention of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh, as well as assaults on minority groups in the neighboring nation.
Das was apprehended following allegations that he insulted the national flag of Bangladesh during a rally in Chittagong on October 25. He was then presented in a Chittagong court, where his bail was denied, and he was remanded into police custody.
The arrest, along with the suspension of bank accounts belonging to several of Das’s associates, escalated tensions, leading a group from the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti to organize a protest in Agartala on Monday, where they vocally demonstrated along the road to the mission. Although security measures were in place prior to the protests, they proved insufficient as the crowd swelled.
The breach of the high commission follows an incident involving an Agartala-Kolkata bus that was traveling through Dhaka on Saturday, which reportedly came under attack in Bangladesh’s Brahmanbaria district after an accident occurred on Vishwa Road.
This breach occurs amid increasing tensions between India and Bangladesh, heightened by a surge in attacks directed at Hindus and their places of worship in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation earlier this year.
The political upheaval in Bangladesh has coincided with a wave of mob violence, raising alarm about the safety of the Hindu minority community. Further escalating the situation was the arrest of the well-known Iskcon priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is a strong proponent of minority rights.
ISCKON Priest Das was apprehended at Dhaka airport in October on accusations of purportedly showing disrespect to the Bangladeshi flag during a demonstration. The details surrounding these allegations remain unclear, and Das has been denied bail.
