Bangladeshi Hindu monk and ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was denied bail by Chattogram court on Thursday after a hearing that was held under tight security. Chinmoy Das was represented by a team of 11 lawyers led by Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee. After the verdict, Bhattacharjee told The Daily Star that they plan to appeal to the High Court for bail.
However, the denial of bail came as no surprise to Chinmoy Das's lawyer Rabindra Ghosh, who earlier predicted that it was unlikely that the bail plea hearing would yield a positive verdict for the monk. "The monk will be detained as a symbol of oppression and fear," Ghosh told TMC leader Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Tuesday.
Ghosh, who returned to Kolkata from Dhaka, said he did not wish to go to Bangladesh as this could lead to not only his arrest but would also be detrimental to the prospects of the monk's case. Ghosh said he 'briefed' four lawyers from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and six others from Chittagong court, where the case is being fought. However, he was apprehensive about the hearing. The Hindus in Bangladesh have been facing increased vulnerability amidst the ongoing political turmoil, he added.
Chinmoy Das was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area of Dhaka in connection with a sedition case filed in Chattogram on November 25. He faces charges of disrespecting the Bangladeshi national flag.
However, Kolkata ISKCON has expressed concern and disappointment over the denial of bail. The organisation's vice president Radha Raman Das expressed his disappointment, stating that the world had hoped for his release as the new year began. "It's very sad news. We know that the entire world was keeping an eye on this. Everyone was expecting Chinmoy Prabhu will get freedom in the new year - but even after 42 days, his bail was rejected in a hearing today," Raman Das told ANI.
He also urged the government of Bangladesh to ensure that Chinmoy Krishna Das get justice.
