Bangladesh court again rejects bail for Hindu leader charged with sedition 

A court in Bangladesh has again denied bail to an outspoken Hindu leader advocating for the protection of minority groups in the country.

Krishna Das Prabhu did not appear at the hearing at the court in the southeastern city of Chattogram, where Metropolitan Sessions Judge Saiful Islam rejected his bail plea, according to Public Prosecutor Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan.

Security was tight at the hearing, with police and soldiers guarding the court. Violence had erupted following a previous bail hearing in November, with Prabhu’s followers accused of killing a Muslim public prosecutor.

Prabhu, 39, was arrested for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag during a rally in Chattogram and faces sedition charges.

Hindu groups allege there have been hundreds of attacks on Hindus since August when the nearly 16-year government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown.

“He faces serious charges like sedition and others involving the security and sovereignty of our country,” Bhuiyan told The Associated Press news agency by telephone.

“We argued in the court that if he gets bail it could create anarchy as we saw in the past that he triggered violence on the court premises by calling thousands of his supporters to protest. So, we moved against his bail plea as we believed that he could misuse his bail.”

Prabhu is a spokesman for the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group. He is also associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), widely known as the Hare Krishna movement.

Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee, a lawyer representing Prabhu, said they would appeal the decision.

Radharamn Das, vice president and spokesman of ISKCON in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state, told India Today network that Prabhu’s health was deteriorating. He said the jailed Hindu leader “has become a face of minorities in Bangladesh”.

“The minorities see him as a ray of hope. He represents their voice,” Das said.

Meanwhile, the family of the lawyer hacked to death in November, Saiful Islam Alif, has filed two separate cases against those they say are linked to his death. That includes 58 Hindu lawyers accused of vandalism and carrying explosives.

Bangladesh saw religious tensions after a mainly student-led revolution toppled “autocratic” Hasina. India’s Hindu nationalist government backed Hasina, who has been in exile in India since protesters stormed her palace on August 5.

Bangladesh in December requested India send Hasina back to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”. India confirmed it had received the request but declined to comment further.

Hindu groups and other minority groups in Bangladesh and abroad have criticised the interim government led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus for undermining their security after Hasina’s fall.

Yunus and his supporters say reports of attacks on Hindus and other minority groups since August have been exaggerated.