Pro-Hindu protesters march to B'desh dy high commission office in Kolkata, submit memorandum

Kolkata: Activists of Hindu Sanhati, a fringe pro-Hindu outfit, took out a rally to the office of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday to protest the alleged attacks on minority Hindus in the neighbouring country and submitted a six-point charter of demands to the mission officials.

A three-member delegation of the organisation met a senior official of the diplomatic mission and submitted their demands, which included exemplary punishment of those involved in the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Meymenshingh on December 18 and security of minorities in Bangladesh and their religious institutions.

"We have demanded exemplary punishment for the murderers of Dipu Das as well as the police officials who turned a blind eye towards the incident. We have also insisted that the Bangladesh government should crack down on those spreading rumours against Hindus and other minorities that are triggering such attacks," said Rajat Roy, an advisory committee member of Hindu Sanhati and member of the delegation.

The delegation members informed reporters that they were assured by the diplomat that he would forward those demands to the Bangladesh government.

"We have also insisted that minority community members across the border and their religious institutions must be protected. We demanded that portions of religious texts which preach intolerance and mark followers of different faiths as 'kafers', allowing perpetration of violence against them should be banned in that country," Roy added.

Earlier, the protest march started from Sealdah station in north Kolkata and reached the diplomatic mission office in Beckbagan in the central part of the city, raising slogans against alleged atrocities on minority Hindus in the neighbouring country.

A large contingent of police was deployed, and metal barricades were put up around the office of the deputy high commissioner, which cordoned off the zone and turned it into a virtual fortress to prevent the protesters from reaching the premises.

The demonstrators blocked the AJC Bose Road in front of the mission office and began a sit-in agitation after they were stopped by the police a few hundred metres ahead of their destination.

Three members from the rally were allowed to meet the diplomatic officials.

This was the second attempt by a pro-Hindu outfit to march to the mission office after December 23, when a similar rally, organised by another pro-Hindu outfit, Bongiyo Hindu Jagaran Mancha, clashed with the police, leading to injuries on both sides and over a dozen protesters getting arrested.

Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is scheduled to meet with the deputy high commissioner later in the day, along with leaders of multiple Hindu organisations.