Activists of Hindu Sanhati, a fringe pro-Hindu outfit, on Friday took out a rally to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata to protest alleged attacks on minority Hindus in the neighbouring country and submitted a six-point charter of demands to mission officials.
A three-member delegation from the organisation met a senior official at the diplomatic mission and presented their demands, including exemplary punishment for those involved in the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Meymenshingh on December 18, as well as enhanced security for minorities in Bangladesh and protection of their religious institutions.
"We have demanded exemplary punishment for the murderers of Dipu Das as well as the police officials who turned a blind eye towards the incident. We have also insisted that the Bangladesh government should crack down on those spreading rumours against Hindus and other minorities that are triggering such attacks," said Rajat Roy, an advisory committee member of Hindu Sanhati and part of the delegation.
Delegation members later told reporters that the diplomat assured them their demands would be forwarded to the Bangladesh government.
"We have also insisted that minority community members across the border and their religious institutions must be protected. We demanded that portions of religious texts which preach intolerance and mark followers of different faiths as 'kafers', allowing perpetration of violence against them should be banned in that country," Roy added.
Earlier in the day, the protest march began from Sealdah station in north Kolkata and proceeded towards the diplomatic mission office in Beckbagan in central Kolkata, with participants raising slogans against alleged atrocities on minority Hindus in Bangladesh.
A large police deployment was put in place, with metal barricades erected around the deputy high commission office, effectively cordoning off the area and turning it into a virtual fortress to prevent protesters from reaching the premises.
After being stopped by police a few hundred metres from their destination, demonstrators blocked AJC Bose Road in front of the mission office and launched a sit-in protest. Three members of the rally were subsequently permitted to meet diplomatic officials.
This marked the second attempt by a pro-Hindu outfit to march to the mission office since December 23, when a similar rally organised by another pro-Hindu group, Bongiyo Hindu Jagaran Mancha, clashed with police, leaving people injured on both sides and resulting in the arrest of over a dozen protesters.
Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is scheduled to meet the deputy high commissioner later in the day along with leaders of several Hindu organisations.