Foreign Secy Vikram Misri to visit Bangladesh on Dec 9 amid concerns over mob attacks on Hindus, ISKCON priest's arrest

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday announced that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri would visit Bangladesh on December 9 amid ongoing violence against the minority Hindu community there.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "Foreign Secretary is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on the 9th of December and he will meet his counterpart and there will be several other meetings during the visit. Foreign Office consultations led by the Foreign Secretary are a structured engagement between India and Bangladesh. We look forward to this meeting," according to an ANI report.

Ever since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as the prime minister and forced to flee Bangladesh, the Hindu minorities in that country have reportedly been facing atrocities. Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is in charge of the administration in Dhaka.

Rising tensions between the Yunus government and India gained the spotlight after Bangladesh "urgently" recalled the mission heads of Agartala and Kolkata high commissions to Dhaka. According to a Prothom Alo report, the acting deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata Shikdar Md Ashrafur Rahman, and the assistant high commissioner in Tripura, Arifur Rahman, were ordered to return to Dhaka.

Safety concerns of Hindu minorities were raised after a series of mob attacks surfaced following political instability. After the arrest of prominent ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, tensions escalated further.

On October 31, a local politician filed a complaint accusing Chinmoy Das and others of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag during a rally of the Hindu community. The ISKCON priest, who is associated with the Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was arrested in Dhaka on November 25 on 'sedition' charges.

Chinmoy Krishna Das was denied bail and a Bangladesh court deferred the hearing on the bail petition to January 2, 2025, The Daily Star reported. Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh's interim government, Shafiqul Alam, said, "We were looking forward to the meeting of the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary, the both Foreign Secretaries are going to talk issues of mutual interest and we hope these meetings are going to help deepen ties between the two neighbours," reported ANI.