'Won’t allow ISKCON to implement Delhi’s agenda'
Demanding an immediate ban on the ISKCON, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement today warned that they would not allow the platform to implement Delhi's agenda from within Bangladesh.
They also said a conspiracy is being hatched to destabilise the country, but the concept of "minority theory" will not be able to divide the country.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The leaders said these at two separate events of the student platform held at Chattogram and Dhaka respectively.
"ISKCON is acting as an agent of the Awami League, attempting to destabilise the country. This extremist organisation is behind the brutal killing of Saiful Islam," Hasnat Abdullah, convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said at the rally held at the Tiger Pass intersection in Chattogram.
Hasnat said that Bangladesh is a land of coexistence, and extremists of any kind have no place here.
"We will work to protect everyone's rights. However, no room will be given if anyone tries to operate an extremist organisation under the guise of religion. My brother Saiful was brutally murdered. ISKCON must be banned as a terrorist organization," he added.
The rally also sought justice for the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, urging authorities to apprehend the killers within 24 hours.
Speaking at the event, Sarjis Alam, member of Jatiya Nagorik Committee and General Secretary of July Martyrs Memorial Foundation said, "General Sanatanis in the country are peace-loving, but the agents of the dictator Hasina are trying to create an unstable situation in the country by inciting ISKCON. However, we will not let that happen as long as we are alive."
Earlier in the day, the student leaders attended the second namaz-e-janaza for Saiful Islam at Jamiatul Falah Mosque in the city's Wasa intersection.
Meanwhile, speaking at the capital's rally, Abdul Hannan Masud, chief organiser of the platform, alleged that ISKCON is working to implement Delhi's agenda from Bangladesh at the instructions of the Awami League President Sheikh Hasina.
"But their plan to pit Hindus and Muslims against each other in this country will never succeed," said Masud.
He said that there will be no more silent tolerance of any conspiracy.
"Even now, collaborators of the Awami League are lurking in various places, trying to make the country unstable in various ways. We have decided that wherever they are found, they will be beaten by the public and handed over to the police," Masud said.
Umama Fatema, spokesperson of the platform, said that the last trump card of Sheikh Hasina after August 5 was an attack on minorities.
"She wanted to portray that an Islamic revolution took place in Bangladesh, that Muslims were endangering Hindus, and that Hindus were unsafe in Bangladesh. The entire plot was orchestrated by India," said Umama.
She alleged that since August 5 the Indian media has been aggressively pushing the minority issue in Bangladesh, but no such events occurred here.
Criticising the interim government for its failure to address the propaganda allegedly spread by India, Umama said, "I believe it was the responsibility of the government to inform the world. India is running propaganda against Bangladesh through its media…However, we observed that the government was lenient towards India."
She said that Bangladesh's peaceful domestic politics is perceived as a threat to India's Pro-Hindu agenda.
"We must remain vigilant in our politics to ensure that neither India nor the Awami League can politicize the minority issue."
Central coordinator Mahin Sarkar demanded that ISKCON be banned, saying "ISKCON is a militant organization. We demand that it be banned.. However, we must not fall into any traps set by the Awami League. Everyone must remain calm and patient."
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