Krishna Das Prabhu faces sedition charges for leading rallies demanding better security for minority groups in Chattogram town.
A court in Bangladesh has again denied bail to an outspoken Hindu leader who advocates for the protection of the country’s minority groups.
Krishna Das Prabhu failed to appear at a court hearing in the southeastern city of Chattogram, where Metropolitan Sessions Judge Saiful Islam rejected his bail plea, according to public prosecutor Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan.
There was heavy security at the hearing, and the court was guarded by the police and the army. Violence broke out after a previous bail hearing in November, with Prabhu’s followers accused of murdering a Muslim public prosecutor.
Prabhu, 39, was arrested for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag during a rally in Chattogram and faces sedition charges.
Hindu groups claim there have been hundreds of attacks on Hindus since August, when the nearly 16-year-old government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina overthrow.
“He is facing serious charges like sedition and others involving the security and sovereignty of our country,” Bhuiyan said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press news agency.
“We argued in the court that if he gets bail, it could create anarchy because we have seen in the past that he has caused violence in the court premises by calling thousands of his supporters to protest. So we rejected his bail application because we believed he might abuse his bail.”
Prabhu is the spokesperson of the Bangladeshi group Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jota. He is also associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), widely known as the Hare Krishna movement.
Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee, a lawyer representing Prabhu, said he would appeal the decision.
Radharamn Das, ISKCON’s vice president and spokesman in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, told the India Today network that Prabhu’s health was deteriorating. He said the jailed Hindu leader “has become the face of minorities in Bangladesh”.
“Minorities see him as a glimmer of hope. He represents their voice,” said Das.
Meanwhile, the family of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, who was hacked to death in November, has filed two separate cases against those they say are connected to his death. These include 58 Hindu lawyers accused of vandalism and carrying explosives.
Bangladesh experienced religious tensions after a revolution led mainly by students toppled the “autocratic” Hasina. India’s Hindu nationalist government supported Hasina, who was in the exile to India since protesters stormed her palace on August 5.
Bangladesh asked India in December send Hasina back face charges of “massacres, murders and crimes against humanity”. India confirmed receipt of the request but declined further comment.
Hindu groups and other minority groups in Bangladesh and abroad have criticized the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus for undermining their security after Hasa’s fall.
Yunus and his supporters say reports of attacks on Hindus and other minority groups since August have been exaggerated.
