Will continue defending Bangla monk despite receiving death threats: Lawyer

Kolkata, Dec 16: Rabindra Ghosh, a prominent Bangladeshi lawyer, on Monday claimed that he has been receiving death threats since he has decided to represent jailed Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das but vowed that he would continue his fight for justice and minority rights.
He alleged that the interim government in Bangladesh was targeting Das as he had been vocal against atrocities on Hindus and was uniting the persecuted minority community.
“I am aware that false cases could be filed against me, but that will not stop me. All my life, I have fought against injustice. I have also fought cases for Muslims and helped them get justice. Death will come one day, but I will continue the fight,” the 74-year-old lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court told PTI in a telephonic interview.
Ghosh, while highlighting the role played by the Hindu minority in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, lamented that the ongoing atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh defeat the “very principles” of the war, which was fought to end the unequal treatment of subjects of West Pakistan and East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
Speaking from Barrackpore, near Kolkata, where he has come for medical treatment, Ghosh said, “Since the day I declared that I will be fighting for Chinmoy Krishna Das, I have been receiving life threats. I get regular threat calls and messages, but that will not deter me from performing my duty. I will continue to fight against the injustice meted out to Das and other Hindus.” Chinmoy Krishna Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested earlier this month from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while en route to Chattogram for a rally. Denied bail, Das has been sent to jail until January 2 by a Bangladeshi court. Ghosh believes the monk has been framed on false charges because of his efforts to unite the Hindu community.
“The monk’s large public gatherings unnerved the administration. That is why fundamentalists and the interim government targeted him. Death will come one day, but I will continue the fight,” Ghosh said. (PTI)