Mamata wants UN peacekeepers in Bangladesh

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday called for deploying a UN peacekeeping force in Bangladesh and demanded Indian premier Narendra Modi's personal intervention for ensuring the safety of religious minorities there.

Banerjee's demands come amid reports that at least three Hindu priests – from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) –in Bangladesh.

The arrests follow the killing of a Muslim government lawyer by Hindu miscreants at a Chattogram court when they were demonstrating seeking the release of a controversial Hindu leader.

On 5 August, a student-led rebellion forced prime minister Sheikh Hasina to hand over power to the Army, paving the way for the formation of an interim government.

"We have families... properties... and loved ones in Bangladesh. We accept whatever stance the Government of India takes on this...but we condemn atrocities on religious grounds anywhere in the world and appeal to the central government, and the prime minister, to intervene," she said without providing any evidence to back up her claims.

Addressing the West Bengal provincial assembly, Banerjee said she had spoken to the chief of the ISKCON's Kolkata unit to extend her sympathies and support.

"If Indians are attacked in Bangladesh, then we cannot tolerate it. We can bring back our people... The government of India can take this matter up with the United Nations... so a peacekeeping force can be sent [there]," she said.

She also said she was not seeking to interfere with the internal affairs of another country, but pointed out that when Bangladeshi fishermen had mistakenly entered Indian waters, or when a Bangladeshi trawler had capsized, her government had "rescued them and treated them (well)".

She, however, failed to highlight the killings of Bangladeshi villagers by Indian Border Security Force (BSF). A few, including Hindus, were killed by BSF even after 5 August.

Modi last week met India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar to discuss the issue, after which the latter called on Bangladesh's temporary government to protect religious minorities.

After his meeting with the Prime Minister Jaishankar also briefed the Indian Parliament, saying the Indian government had taken a “serious view of the violence against minorities” in Bangladesh. He outlined around four incidents of Hindu temple vandalism since 5 August, without providing evidence, but could not mention a single incident of attack on lives on religious grounds.

"Primary responsibility for protection of life and liberty of all citizens of Bangladesh, including minorities, rests with the Government of Bangladesh," he told the Indian parliament, adding the Indian High Commission in Dhaka is monitoring the situation related to minorities there "closely".

The Yunus government has reaffirmed "in the strongest terms" that every Bangladeshi, regardless of their religious identity, has the "right to establish, maintain or perform respective religious rituals and practices or express views without hindrance."

Two ISKCON priests were arrested by Bangladesh Saturday, according to the religious group's Kolkata unit spokesperson Radharamn Das. This, he claimed, was in addition to the arrest of two devotees and a third, the secretary of one of the arrested priests, going missing.

The ISKCON row kicked off with the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari last week.

A former member, he was arrested from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, denied bail, and sent to jail on charges of sedition. His arrest has been "misconstrued", Dhaka has said.

The arrest of Das and another Hindu priest, the leader of the Sammilita Sanatani Jote, triggered protests across Bangladesh, including in Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram. The protesters have been demanding stronger legal protection and a ministry dedicated to minority affairs.

On the day Chinmoy was being escorted to the court, Hindu devotees obstructed the police convoy twice, and later as law enforcers tried to disperse them, went on a rampage attacking a nearby mosque and killing a government lawyer.

Hindus made up around 22% of Bangladesh's population during the 1971 Liberation War. But there has been a significant decline in recent decades, with the Hindu community now comprising only around 8% of the total population.