The Trinamool Congress on Friday accused the BJP of having “forgotten” jailed Bangladeshi Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu after coming to power in West Bengal, pointing to emotional images of him grieving beside his mother’s mortal remains after being allowed out of custody briefly to attend her last rites.
TMC spokesperson and MLA Kunal Ghosh said his party did not want to comment on how Bangladesh should handle the case as it concerned another country and India’s foreign policy, but questioned what the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in West Bengal were doing about the monk’s continued incarceration. The attack came after photographs and videos emerged showing Das breaking down beside his mother’s body following nearly two years in custody.
TMC recalls BJP’s earlier protests
“We will not comment on the Chinmoy Das issue, which is a matter of a foreign country. But I will say this: the visuals of the monk wailing beside his mother after she died were heartbreaking,” Ghosh told reporters.
He questioned the response of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and the Suvendu Adhikari-led government in West Bengal, alleging that the BJP had pushed the issue into the “realm of amnesia” after assuming power in the state.
Ghosh recalled that when the BJP was in Opposition in West Bengal, its leaders had staged demonstrations outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata demanding Das’s release.
“And after gaining state power, has the same party now forgotten Chinmoy Das? Has it now forgotten the saffron attire that the monk adorns?” Ghosh asked, taking a swipe at Adhikari’s emphasis on the sanctity and symbolism of the saffron colour.
Ghosh alleged that while the BJP government and police machinery in West Bengal were focused on Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, the party had stopped raising the case of the jailed monk.
Monk attends mother’s last rites
Das was reportedly granted parole for about five hours to attend the last rites of his mother, Sandhya Rani Dhar, at Pundarik Dham in Hathazari, Chattogram. Images showed the monk overwhelmed with grief beside his mother’s mortal remains.
His mother had reportedly been unwell and had expressed a desire to meet her son while he remained incarcerated. Das’s brief release for the funeral came amid a prolonged legal battle over his detention and bail.
The TMC used the images to question what it described as a change in the BJP’s position since its transition from Opposition to government in West Bengal.
Arrest had triggered protests
Das, a former ISKCON monk and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Mancha, was arrested in November 2024 in a sedition case following allegations that Bangladesh’s national flag had been disrespected during a rally.
His arrest and subsequent denial of bail triggered demonstrations in Chattogram. Lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed during violence surrounding protests after a court proceeding, further complicating the case.
Das subsequently became entangled in several criminal cases, including one related to the killing, prolonging his incarceration. Although the Bangladesh High Court granted him bail in the sedition case, the order was subsequently stayed by the Appellate Division.
His detention has remained a sensitive issue, particularly among Hindu organisations and rights groups that have repeatedly demanded his release.
Adhikari had led march in 2024
In November 2024, Adhikari, then the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, led BJP MLAs in a protest march to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata and submitted a memorandum condemning Das’s arrest and demanding his immediate and unconditional release.
The state BJP had stepped up pressure over the issue at the time, calling for restrictions on bilateral trade and visas for Bangladeshi nationals and warning of blockades of goods vehicles at the Petrapole border if its demands were not addressed.
It is that earlier campaign that the TMC is now using to target the BJP, accusing the party of abandoning an issue it had once projected prominently after its political circumstances changed in West Bengal.