Bangladesh: ISKCON Urges Followers To Avoid Public Display Of Faith (image @iskcon)

Dhaka, Bangladesh: ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das on Tuesday said he has urged its monks and followers from Bangladesh to avoid wearing saffron robes and ’tilak’ in public. He said he advised them to practice their faith discreetly amid safety concerns following targeted attacks against Hindu minorities in Dhaka.

The announcement comes in the wake of escalating violence against the Hindu community in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government earlier this year.

“The situation in Bangladesh is alarming. The monks and devotees, who have been calling us, we have told them to hide their identity as ISKCON followers or monks publicly. We have asked them to practice their faith discreetly inside homes or inside the temples. We have advised them to dress in a manner that does not draw attention,” Radharamn Das, who is also ISKCON Kolkata vice-president, told PTI.

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He stressed that the measure was temporary and aimed solely at ensuring their safety. “This is not any advisory or generic guideline but my personal suggestion to monks and devotees who have been calling us frantically over the last few days,” he said.

“Many of our devotees and their families are facing threats and intimidation”, Das added, referring to incidents of vandalism of temples and attacks on religious gatherings.

Chinmay Krishna, who served as a spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday while he was going to Chattogram to attend a rally. He was denied bail and sent to jail on Tuesday.

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Reportedly, the Hindu population, once a substantial demographic in Bangladesh, has experienced a significant decline in recent decades, with the minority community now comprising only around 8 per cent of the country’s total population. The figure was reported to be approximately 22 per cent of Bangladesh’s population during the 1971 Liberation War.