Dhaka, April 30: Chinmoy Krishna Das, a prominent Hindu leader and spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot, has been granted bail by the High Court on Wednesday in an alleged sedition case.

The bench of Justice Atoar Rahman and Justice Ali Reza passed the order after a final hearing.

Earlier this year, the High Court issued a rule after hearing Das’s application for bail in the case, seeking an explanation as to why the applicant should not be granted bail.

Last week, the High Court set April 30 as the date for the rule hearing, following which the Court declared the rule absolute and delivered its verdict, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported on Wednesday.

Arrested on November 25 from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on charges of sedition, Das has remained in jail despite widespread demands for his release.

Chinmoy Krishna was taken into custody by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, an act which was criticised throughout the world and exposed the crimes being committed against the Hindu community of Bangladesh.

Krishna was not only associated with the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot (BJHM), a grand national alliance of 23 religious organisations in the country, but also with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The news of his arrest led to several protests demanding his immediate release.

The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8 following the fall of Awami League regime led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Even though Yunus and his religious affairs advisor A.F.M. Khalid Hossain assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony, the communal violence, which began immediately after Hasina left Dhaka, continued to cause widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty among the minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus.

Last month, a report of the Dhaka-based human rights organisation, Ain O Salish Kendra (AsK), highlighted that there are reports of a total of 147 incidents of vandalising houses, temples, and business establishments of the Hindu community across the country.

Some 408 households were vandalised in these incidents, including 36 cases of arson. Besides, there have been reports of 113 incidents of vandalising business establishments owned by the minority community, 32 incidents of attack on temples and mosques of the Ahmadiyya sect, and 92 incidents of vandalising idols in 92 temples.

There have been several incidents of attacks on the minorities all over the country, particularly the Hindu community, after the fall of the Awami League government with their areas, including houses, business establishments, and places of worship coming under attack and even set on fire in certain instances.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, during his meeting with Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.

India has repeatedly raised concerns over the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, hoping that the interim government in the country led by Yunus will take strong action against the perpetrators of violence.

New Delhi, April 30: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a fresh salvo at the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday, taking strong exception to the party’s portrayal of its supremo Akhilesh Yadav as ‘equivalent’ to Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution.

BJP called it a grave insult to Babasaheb and accused the SP of misusing his legacy for garnering support from the Dalit community.

The controversy erupted as a party poster surfaced this morning, showing SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Babasaheb ‘overlapping’ each other. Some reports said that the posters were also displayed at some places in Lucknow.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared the poster on his X handle and tore into the Akhilesh-led SP for distorting the face of Babasaheb and also accused it of offending the sentiments of the Dalit community.

“There can be no greater insult to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and the symbol of the Dalit community, than to distort his face and impose Akhilesh Yadav’s face on it,” he wrote on X.

Further slamming the SP supremo, he said that Akhilesh Yadav can never equal Babasaheb’s greatness and his contribution to the deprived sections of society, ‘no matter how many times he takes birth’.

Malviya further said, “Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh first insulted the great warrior Rana Sanga and now Babasaheb. This cannot be accepted by the Hindu society at all.”

Earlier, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also addressed a press conference and slammed the SP for the reprehensible poster, apparently belittling and trivialising the legacy of Babasaheb.

“A poster of the Samajwadi Party shows half the face of Babasaheb, and the remaining half is of Akhilesh Yadav. This is an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar. They are trying to get the votes of Dalits by using such tactics.”

“Babasaheb was against Parivar vaad while Akhilesh is a product of a dynasty,” he added.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak also denounced the act and called it a ‘reflection of the party’s corrupt mentality’.

New Delhi, April 30: Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif’s admission on country’s role in harbouring terrorists and sponsoring terror factories on its soil recently, came not just as a shocker but also exposed its brazen terror designs as well as terror trail, that remains not just limited to Kashmir but goes beyond many frontiers, even to the Islamic nations, Middle-East and Europe.

Pakistan’s terror footprints across the globe got more accentuated with Pakistan’s Defence Minister’s open confession on the country’s history of supporting terrorist organisations, as he said, “We have been doing this dirty work for the US for the past three decades, including the West and the UK.”

The bloodbath in Kashmir’s Pahalgam is the latest dastardly act of terror, conducted by Pakistan-based terrorists, plotted and guided by handlers based there. A key Pakistan link is emerging here also, as Hashim Moosa, who served in the Pakistan Army earlier, has been found to be one of the key attackers in Baisaran valley. A massive manhunt is underway to nab Moosa, the former para commando in Pakistan’s Special Services Group, who then switched to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to conduct terror strikes in India.

For many years, Pakistan has used its soil as a launchpad for cross-border terrorism, insurgency, and extremist ideology. Its track record in sponsoring, sheltering, and exporting terrorism is one of the most dangerous and destabilising forces in the world.

In 2018, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also admitted to the Pakistani government’s role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Former Pak Army General Pervez Musharraf had also conceded that his forces trained militant groups to fight India in Kashmir.

An account of how Pakistan is exporting terrorism globally

Afghanistan: Taliban and Haqqani network attacks

Pak-based terror groups were found to be the key conspirators behind numerous deadly attacks on Afghan civilians, government targets and international forces, including the 2008 Indian Embassy bombing in Kabul and the 2011 attack on the US Embassy in Kabul.

Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) has been widely documented as supporting the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network, providing them with funding, training, and safe havens.

Its role in the Indian Embassy bombing in Kabul was also documented in a book by senior journalist Carlotta Gall, who wrote, “The embassy bombing was no operation by rogue ISI agents acting on their own. It was sanctioned and monitored by the most senior officials in Pakistani intelligence.”

Iran: Jaish ul-Adl Attacks

Pakistan-based Sunni extremist group Jaish ul-Adl repeatedly attacked Iranian security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan province. In response, Iran carried out missile and drone strikes inside Pakistan’s Balochistan province, targeting what it described as Jaish ul-Adl hideouts.

Iran has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harbouring and failing to act against Sunni militants who stage attacks across the border.

Moscow Concert Hall Attack (2024)

In April, a Pakistan link emerged in the investigation of the Moscow terror attack. Russian authorities identified the mastermind as a Tajik national and are probing connections to Pakistan, with reports suggesting that the attackers may have had logistical or ideological support tracing back to Pakistani networks.

United Kingdom: 2005 London Bombings

The July 7 London bombings, carried out by four British Islamist terrorists, were linked to training and indoctrination in Pakistan. Three of the bombers — Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, and Germaine Lindsay had spent time in Pakistan between 2003 and 2005, getting trained in terror-training centres.

Osama bin Laden’s elimination exposed Pakistan globally

In the 2011 US raids that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan’s Abbottabad, it exposed Pakistan’s brazen defence of the dreaded terrorists and also exposed its systemic failure in counterterrorism efforts.

Bin Laden lived undetected for years in a compound near Pakistan’s Military Academy, affirming the Pakistan government’s protection and alleged collusion.