Hindu outfits—the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal—led a protest at the South Mumbai tip of Cuffe Parade outside the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh on Monday afternoon. The protest, they said, was triggered by atrocities against the Hindu (minority) community in Bangladesh. It was sparked particularly by the recent detention of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari at the Dhaka airport. Brahmachari, a former leader of the ISKCON, was arrested on November 25. Since then, reports have followed about the concerning situation for Hindus there, with the latest being that International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monks from Bangladesh were stopped from flying to India.

Strong show

Though Hindu organisations and their workers were at the forefront of the protest, the crowd had surged with locals, corporate office workers, and Mumbaikars from suburbs too eventually joining in the protest, which started with groups emerging carrying banners declaring Hindus were under threat in Bangladesh. As shouts of “Jai Shree Ram” rent the air, some chanted “Haye, haye Bangladesh” and “Muhammad Yunus Murdabad.” Yunus is Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor.
The numbers swelled as the dharna gained traction with several pushing against the police barricades. Then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha arrived to show support. As shouts of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” resonated, with the Bajrang Dal stating it is ready on the maidan during any struggle for the Hindus, “Hinduon ke sangram mein, Bajrang Dal maidan mein.” VHP leaders Shriraj Nair and Mohan Salekar stated that they were against “the jihadi-terrorist mindset that seems to have permeated that country.”