Bangladesh’s immigration authorities at the Benapole border crossing turned away 54 members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) on Sunday, despite them possessing valid passports and visas.
The immigration police cited a lack of specific government approval for their travel as the reason for barring their entry. “We consulted the special branch of police and received instructions from the higher authorities not to permit them (to cross the border),” officer-in-charge of Benapole immigration police, Imtiaz Ahsanul Quader Bhuiyan was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.
He added that while the devotees carried valid passports and visas, they were “lacking specific government permission.”
Read also: Chinmoy Krishna Das, Bangladesh monk who’s sparked calls for a ban on Iskcon
The group of 54 members, including devotees from various districts in Bangladesh, had arrived at the check post between Saturday night and Sunday morning. They waited for hours, hoping for permission to proceed, only to be informed their travel was not authorized.
“We came to participate in a religious ceremony taking place in India, but immigration officials stopped us, citing the absence of government permission,” said Iskcon member Saurabh Tapandar Cheli.
This incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of Iskcon in Bangladesh following the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das on November 27. Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was detained at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on charges of sedition. The case alleges that he and others hoisted a saffron flag above the Bangladeshi national flag during a rally on October 25 in Chattogram.
Das’s arrest sparked protests among his supporters, leading to violent clashes that resulted in the death of a lawyer in Chattogram.
Bangladeshi authorities froze the bank accounts of 17 individuals associated with Iskcon, including Das, for a 30-day period.
Adding to the tension, two Iskcon monks, Adi Purush Shyam Das and Ranganath Das, were arrested on Friday while returning from delivering prasad to Das in prison. Both monks, natives of Chattogram, were detained amid heightened concerns over violence targeting Hindu minorities since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August.
The Bangladesh high court, however, declined to issue a suo motu order to ban Iskcon in the country.