Statement to the UN against misinterpretation of Chinmoy Das' arrest

 Statement to the UN against misinterpretation of Chinmoy Das' arrest

Statement to the UN against misinterpretation of Chinmoy Das' arrest

The government has issued a statement at the United Nations against the misinterpretation of the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sanatani Jagran Mancha and former ISKCON leader.

Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Tarek Md. Ariful Islam, informed about the steps taken by the government to protect minorities at the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues on Thursday (November 28) local time.

In the statement, Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations mentioned, "We note with great disappointment that some speakers have misinterpreted the arrest of Chinmoy Das. In fact, he has been arrested on specific charges. The case is pending in court. 

Even after the recent brutal killing of a Muslim lawyer, our government's immediate intervention and support from all religious leaders helped maintain peace and avert untoward incidents. Our government is vigilant and will continue to work immediately to maintain religious harmony at any cost and thwart any attempt to undermine the rights of minorities."

Tarek Md. Ariful Islam explained the violence that erupted after the fall of the previous Awami League government, saying that the violence that broke out in Bangladesh after August 5 was rooted in political and personal reasons, not communal ones. 

In most cases, that violence affected biased politically loyal people; almost all of them were Muslims and only a few were from other religious minority groups.

 There was no targeted attack on minorities. Rather, the world witnessed how the entire Bangladesh came forward to protect its minorities, following our long tradition of communal harmony after the mass movement in July. Our government under the leadership of Professor Yunus has received overwhelming and unprecedented support from people of all religions.

He further said that Bangladesh reiterates that every Bangladeshi, regardless of religious identity, has the right to practice his or her religion or to freely express his or her opinion.

This has been repeatedly assured by our top leadership to minority religious leaders and has been proven time and again in the first 100 days of the government. Two advisors have been appointed from the minority community.

Tarek Md. Ariful Islam Regarding the spread of fake news on minority oppression, unfortunately, at a time when the people of Bangladesh were setting a glorious example of religious harmony, we have seen exaggerated, baseless and fake news and deliberate misinformation by vested interests on minority oppression. 

Unfortunately, we have seen this in this forum as well. Many such propaganda have been debunked by the global media. Our government is ready to welcome foreign journalists to visit Bangladesh to see the real situation.