Amidst the ongoing tension and controversy in Bangladesh, ISKCON has got a big relief from the High Court. The court has refused to ban ISKCON, although ISKCON has got immediate relief from the High Court and the threat to the org.zation remains.
ISKCON has got a big relief in Bangladesh. The High Court refused to ban ISKCON and said that it was satisfied with the action being taken by the interim government. Therefore, there is no need to take much cognizance of this matter at present. In fact, on Wednesday in Bangladesh, Supreme Court lawyer Moniruzman has filed a petition before the bench of Justice Farah Mehboob and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury demanding a ban on ISKCON. He also appealed to declare emergency in Chittagong and Rangpur.
What did the interim government say in the court?
At the beginning of the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Asaduddin, on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the court about the steps taken by the government. He told the court that the government’s stance on the incident is strict. So far three cases have been reported in this regard, in one case 13 people, in one case 14 people and in the other case 49 people have been made accused. So far 33 people have been arrested. Six more people have been identified through CCTV. The government has told the court that the police is active, after interrogating the accused, further action will be taken on the basis of information. Deputy Attorney General Asaduddin said that security forces are working on this issue with top priority not only in Chittagong but also in other places. During the hearing, a judge said that people’s lives should not be caused too much harm.
High Court refuses to ban ISKCON
On the demand to ban ISKCON, the judges said that the government is working on top priority. During this, the court commented that ‘people of all religions in our country are very cordial and friendly, mutual respect and love will never end.’ Therefore the applicant does not need to worry.
What options are available to ISKCON?
Despite immediate relief from ISKCON, the crisis still persists in Bangladesh. In fact, activists of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh are continuously pressurizing the Yunus government to take action against ISKCON. During the court hearing on Wednesday, the Attorney General described ISKCON as a fundamentalist org.zation.
In such a situation, even though the High Court has refused to ban ISKCON, there is a danger of action against ISKCON by the Yunus government. In such a situation, ISKCON can fight the war using these 3 methods to thwart the ongoing propaganda against itself in Bangladesh.
- Fought with full force against the ongoing legal and administrative proceedings in Bangladesh.
- ISKCON is an international forum, hence this should be raised as a violation of religious freedom on the global platform.
- A case should be filed in ICC against Bangladesh government.
