Bail hearing of Hindu monk Chinmoy Das rescheduled for Jan 2 as lawyer fails to show up

Dhaka, Dec 4 (Representative) The bail hearing of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari has been rescheduled for January 2 next year, after his lawyer failed to show up amid threats to his life. The hearing of the bail plea of Chinmoy Das, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was scheduled at the court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Saiful Islam in Chattogram today. “As the prosecution submitted a time petition and there was no lawyer to represent Chinmoy, the court set 2 January as the next date for hearing the bail petition,” said Advocate Nazim Uddin, president of Chattogram Bar Association. Sawtantra Gauranga Das Brahmachari, a leader of Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, told The Business Standard Bangladesh that lawyer Subhashi Sharma, who submitted an affidavit on behalf of Chinmoy, remained unreachable for the last few days. “He, along with his assistants, approximately 70 lawyers, have been falsely accused in a case and they all have been in hiding to avoid arrest,” he claimed.”Fearing threats and pressure from a politically motivated lawyers’ group, no lawyer is daring to represent Chinmoy,” Sawtantra alleged.Meanwhile, senior ISKCON official in Kolkata Radharaman Das posted videos on his X account that showed a lawyers’ body openly threatening anyone who appears for Chinmoy Das. The lawyers were heard declaring loudly that anyone who dares to appear for former ISKCON priest Chinmoy Das would be thrashed in the court building.Radharaman Das also posted that on the day when Chinmoy Das was first arrested and produced in court one of his lawyers was Regan Acharya.

“After the hearing his chamber was vandalised and he was attacked brutally. How can anyone lawyer appear for Chinmoy Krishna Das when they are being targeted?”, he posted along with pictures. On October 25, Chinmoy Das, also known as Chandan Kumar Dhar, was accused in a sedition case for allegedly disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag by hoisting a saffron flag above it during a rally organised by the Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Mancha in Chattogram city. The former spokesperson of ISKCON Bangladesh was arrested by police at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on November 25.Since his arrest, his followers have protested in Dhaka, Chattogram and other parts of the country. On November 26, a Chattogram court rejected Chinmoy’s bail plea and sent him to jail. A large group of people believed to be his supporters blocked the prison van carrying him for about two and a half hours.Later, the police dispersed the protesters by throwing sound grenades and took Chinmoy to jail.Amid the turmoil, violence spilled into Rangam Convention Hall Lane, opposite the court building. Advocate Saiful Islam Alif was fatally attacked by a mob that beat and hacked him to death.

The killing of Saiful led to many demanding a ban on ISKCON, which has distanced itself from Chinmoy.Meanwhile, ISKCON and Chinmoy’s followers in India have been holding demonstrations at the Bangladesh-India border to demand his release. On Monday, the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura capital’s Agartala was attacked by a mob demanding Chinmoy’s immediate release, and “the stoppage of attacks on Hindus” in Bangladesh.India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said the breach of premises at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission is “deeply regrettable”.Later, the Bangladesh government in a statement expressed deep resentment over the “heinous attack” by members of the Hindu Sangharsh Samity on the premises of the Assistant High Commission in Agartala.Meanwhile, demonstrations condemning the attack on the Assistant High Commission were held at various places, with students holding rallies at Dhaka University’s TSC, in front of the Indian High Commission in the capital, and elsewhere around Bangladesh.