Lawyers threatened, Bangladesh Hindu monk gets no legal aid, to spend month in jail

Threatened by Islamists in Bangladesh, no lawyer stepped in to represent a Hindu monk who had been fighting for minority rights and jailed for sedition. Monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari will have to spend a month in jail even as his previous lawyer is battling for life in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital after an attack at his home.

Advocate Ramen Roy, who was representing Chinmoy Krishna Das, was brutally attacked, and his house ransacked by Islamists, Iskcon India said on Monday. It said that Roy was battling for his life in the hospital ICU. The attack and threats by Islamists is part of the bid to silence the voice of minority Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

Chinmoy Krishna Das was a monk of Iskcon, but the organisation distanced itself from him in September. However, it has spoken out against Das’s arrest under sedition charges.

After the attack on Roy and threats to lawyers, Das went legally unrepresented in a Chattogram court on Tuesday.

With Roy’s attack as an example, no lawyer dared to provide legal assistance to the Hindu monk in securing bail.

The next date of Das’s hearing has been posted for January 2. So, Das will be in jail for a month.

Sources within Das’s legal team told India Today TV that Muslim advocates who were part of the Chittagong Bar Association have been constantly intimidating and issuing threats to their Hindu counterparts who had earlier appeared for Das.

The threats have been persistent, they say.

A monk from Chattogram told India Today Digital on November 27 that chambers of some lawyers had been ransacked and Hindu lawyers threatened.

Chinmoy Krishna Das is the President of the Pundarik Dham of Chattogram and the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot, which has been holding massive rallies for an eight-point programme to secure rights for Bangladesh’s minorities.

Das was arrested at the Dhaka International Airport by the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Police on November 25 in connection with a sedition case filed a month ago. Following Das’ arrest, his bail application was rejected by Chittagong’s Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on November 26.

Two other monks who went to meet Das in jail were also put behind bars on November 29.

“The sedition case is against our eight-point demand [for minorities]. It is an attempt to finish off the leadership of the agitation,” Chinmoy Krishna Das told India Today Digital earlier in November from Chattogram.

Das gained popularity and has emerged as the biggest leader of Hindus in Bangladesh. This also made him one of the main targets of Islamists.

The attack on his lawyer, and threats to other lawyers by Islamists is an attempt to silence the voice of Hindus, the biggest minority group, in Bangladesh. The fear has managed to keep lawyers away from fighting Das’s bail case and the Hindu monk will be in jail for a month now.

(With inputs from Indrajit Kundu)