Big relief to ISKCON in Bangladesh, High Court refuses to ban it.
ISKCON has got a big relief in Bangladesh. The High Court has refused to ban ISKCON, the court has said that it is satisfied with the action taken by the interim government. Therefore, there is no need to take suo motu cognizance in this matter at present.
In fact, on Wednesday, Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Moniruzzaman filed a petition before a bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Choudhary demanding a ban on ISKCON. He also appealed to declare an emergency in Chittagong and Rangpur.
What did the interim government say in the court?
At the beginning of the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Asaduddin informed the court about the steps taken by the government on behalf of the Attorney General. He told the court that the government's stand on this incident is strict. So far three cases have come to light regarding this, 13 people have been accused in one, 14 people in another and 49 people in the other. So far 33 people have been arrested. 6 more people have been identified through CCTV. The government has told the court that the police is active, further action will be taken on the basis of information obtained after interrogating the accused.
Deputy Attorney General Asaduddin said that not only in Chittagong but also in other places, security forces are working on this issue with top priority. During the hearing, a judge said that there should be no further loss of life.
High court refuses to ban ISKCON
On the demand to ban ISKCON, the judges said that the government is working with top priority. We are satisfied with the government's action and we have faith in the responsibility of the state. During this, the court commented that 'People of all religions in our country are very cordial and friendly, mutual respect and love will never be lost. Therefore, the applicant should not worry.'
What options does ISKCON have?
Although ISKCON has got some relief in Bangladesh, the crisis still persists. In fact, the activists of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh are constantly pressurizing the Yunus government to take action against ISKCON. During the hearing in the court on Wednesday, the Attorney General had called ISKCON a fundamentalist organization.
In such a situation, even if the High Court has refused to ban ISKCON, the threat of action against ISKCON by the Yunus government remains. Therefore, ISKCON can use these 3 measures to fight the battle to thwart the propaganda being run against it in Bangladesh.
- Fought with full force against the legal and administrative actions taking place in Bangladesh.
- ISKCON is an international platform, hence this should be raised on a global platform as a violation of religious freedom.
- A case should be filed against the Bangladesh government in the ICC.