Dhaka: Bangladesh’s immigration police on Sunday, December 1, turned back 54 members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) who possessed valid travel documents and wanted to cross into India from the Benapole border checkpoint.
Local media reported that the Bangladesh police did not allow them to proceed, citing “suspicious travel”. Some even claimed that the total number of Hindus arriving at the border crossing was over 70.
It was reported that the Hindu devotees from various parts of Bangladesh had arrived at the land port along the international border on Saturday, wanting to leave the country through the Benapole-Petrapole crossing.
“We consulted the Special Branch of Police and received instructions from the higher authorities not to permit them,” Benapole immigration checkpost officer-in-charge (OC) Imtiaz Ahsanul Quader Bhuiya was quoted as saying by the Bangladesh’s Daily Star.
Bhuiya reportedly mentioned that the Bangladeshi authorities did not allow 54 Iskcon devotees to travel to India due to “suspicions regarding their travel purposes”.
However, several members of the group – who were made to wait at the checkpoint since Saturday night – stated that they were travelling to India for religious rituals with valid passports and visas but were still turned back on Sunday with the authorities not giving any clear reason for their action.
“We were going to participate in a religious ceremony in India, but immigration officials stopped us, citing the absence of government permission,” Saurabh Tapandar Cheli, one of the Iskcon members, told local media outlets.
The Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Petrapole on the Indian side was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in July 2016.
The minorities in Bangladesh, especially Hindus, have come under a severe attack by Islamist elements in Bangladesh after the formation of the interim government in the country headed by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.
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