GUWAHATI: Around 40,000 people gathered near the India-Bangladesh international border in Assam's Sribhumi district on Sunday, December 1, to protest against alleged attacks on Hindus and the insult of the Indian flag in Bangladesh.
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This demonstration, called ‘Chalo Bangladesh,’ was organised by the Sanatani Aikya Mancha. Protest began near the Sutarkandi area at around 11:30 AM, and continued until 3:00 PM.
The protesters further demanded the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das, an International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) member, who was arrested in Bangladesh for participating in an earlier democratic protest.
Superintendent of Police Partha Protim Das confirmed the protest was initially declared as peaceful, but it escalated once protesters attempted to cross the barricades set up by the police. "We deployed 300 police personnel and created two lines of defence. Unfortunately, force had to be used to maintain order," he stated, according to news outlets.
As of right now, the BSF, which stationed additional forces, have prevented demonstrators from approaching the fencing, and have also stopped several attempts to cross the river border.
The Sanatani Aikya Mancha has been staging protests across Assam's Barak Valley following the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das for quite some time now. They have written to the United Nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Bangladesh High Commission, demanding immediate release of Das.