Bangladeshi embassy compound attacked in Agartala amid rising anti-minority sentiment

Hindu extremists vandalised the Bangladeshi embassy compound in Agartala, Tripura State, India on 2 December to protest the arrest of a Hindu priest in Bangladesh amid rising anti-minority sentiment in both countries.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, a leader of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested in Dhaka on charges of sedition on 24 November. Violence later erupted in the city after his bail plea was rejected on 27 November, and a Muslim lawyer was killed during the clashes.

In Agartala, India, which is near the border with Bangladesh, members of a newly founded Hindu nationalist organisation named the Hindu Sangarsha Samiti broke into the Bangladeshi embassy and proceeded to tear down the Bangladeshi flag and set it on fire in protest of Das’ arrest.

India’s foreign ministry condemned the incident, calling it ‘deeply regrettable’, and have made seven arrests in relation to the attack so far. The Indian government also expressed concern over Das’ arrest and has repeatedly called for the protection and safety of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Anti-minority sentiment has been rising in both Bangladesh and India since the resignation of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country on 5 August. Homes, businesses and places of worship belonging to the Hindu community in Bangladesh have been subjected to widespread targeted attacks, and right-wing Hindu nationalist groups in India have attacked Bengali Muslims in retaliation.

On 2 December Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of India’s West Bengal State, which shares the longest border with Bangladesh, called for the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Bangladesh. On 4 December, the state secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasaba, a Hindu nationalist political party, urged Indians to deny services and accommodation to Bangladeshi Muslims visiting West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi government has claimed that the Indian authorities are exaggerating the extent of the violence in Bangladesh in order to further their Hindu nationalist agenda.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW is highly concerned at targeted attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh and India. Far right groups will only capitalise on hateful narratives on either side, which will result in an escalation of violence which could easily spill over to neighbouring countries. CSW calls on the governments of Bangladesh and India to collectively take firm measures to put a stop to the violence and hold the perpetrators of such crimes to account for their actions.’