Tension arose in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, as protesters tried to besiege the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, demanding the protection of religious minorities in Bangladesh and the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das.
The protest on Saturday was organised jointly by the Vivekananda Mission Seva Pratisthan and the National Citizen Party of India (NCPI). A march set off from Sealdah railway station in the afternoon, with more than a hundred monks and nuns of the Vivekananda Mission and around 50 NCPI supporters.
As the march approached the mission, police blocked the road with barricades about 300 yards away for security. Protesters tried to break through, leading to scuffles with Kolkata police; traffic on the busy road near the mission was halted for a while and tension spread across the area.
When the protesters could not reach the mission, a five-member delegation was allowed in with the Deputy High Commission’s permission. It submitted a memorandum demanding the safety of minorities in Bangladesh and Chinmoy Krishna Das’s release, and after chanting slogans for a while the protesters left.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report