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India on Friday called on Bangladesh to protect its minorities even as the Bangladesh Forelgn Ministry condemned the desecration of its national flag and burning of an effigy of Mohammed Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government, outside its mission in Kolkata, In a related development, the bank accounts of 17 individuals, including Chinmoy Krishna Das Brhmachari, associated with the International Society for Krishna Conscipusness, were frozen for 30 days.
New Delhi called upon the interim government in Bangladesh to live up 1o its responsibility of protecting all minorities even as it expressed serious concern over the "surge” of extremist rhetoric and interesting incidents of violence against Hindus as well as attacks on temples there.
In the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has taken a serious note of incidents of violenee against minorities in Bangladesh and that it is the primary responsibility of Dhaka to protect the life and liberty of all the citizens, including minorites.
He added that the Indian high commission in Dhaka continues to monitor the situation related to minorities "closely”. The Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said India was hoping that the case involving arrested Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das will be dealt with in a just, fair and transparent manner.
“We see ISKCON as a globally well-regarded organisation with a strong record of social service...It is our expectation that he (Chinmoy) will get a fair and transparent trial and his legal rights will be respected,” Jaiswal said. In Dhaka the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the desecration of its national flag and the burning of an effigy of Yunus during a protest in Kolkata. It called upon the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent such incidents.
The ministry said it was concerned that the protest, organized on Thursday afternoon by Bongio Hindu Jagran, outside the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata, had turned violent as demonstrators broke through police barricades and reached the commission's boundary.
The protesters set fire to the Bangladeshi national flag and an effigy of the chief adviser. "Although the situation seems to be under control at the moment, there is a prevailing sense of insecurity among the members of the Deputy High Commission,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) on Thrusday ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to 17 individuals associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) Bangladesh, including its former leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, for 30 days.
BFIU requested detailed account information from the banks, including account opening forms, KYC forms, and transaction histories from the beginning, for all businesses owned by these individuals.
