New Delhi: Bangladesh government has assured full support and protection to the Ramakrishna Mission in Dhakha following a death threat to a Hindu priest by suspected ISIS militants, MEA spokesperson Viksa Swarup said today.
In a statement issued here, Swarup said that security has been beefed up at the Mission and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has already contacted both the Bangladesh police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“HCI Dhaka has contacted both BD Police and MOFA, and have been assured of full support and protection. We are also in direct contact with the RK Mission in Dhaka,” Swarup said.
Swarup informed that a top official from the Indian High Commission visited RK Mission this morning to review security.
A Hindu priest of the Ramakrishna Ashram Mission, Dhaka, has received a death threat from suspected Islamists, who claim to be ISIS followers, if he continues to preach in ‘Islamic Bangladesh’.
The threat came in the form of a letter on Wednesday following targeted murders across the country in recent weeks by militants.
The priest said he was ordered by the sender of the letter not to preach his religion otherwise he would be hacked to death with machetes.
The mission officials were not immediately available for comments but police said the priest received on a computer-composed ISIS letterhead with perpetrator identifying him as one AB Siddiqui.
“Bangladesh is an Islamic state. You can’t preach your religion here. If you continue preaching, you’ll be hacked to death with machetes between the 20th and 30th,” a police official quoted the letter as saying.
Though most of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic State or its affiliates and other similar extremist groups, the Bangladesh government has repeatedly dismissed the claims and said the attacks were carried out by home-grown outfits linked to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Recent days have seen a spate of attacks on minority Hindus in the Muslim-dominated country. Over the past few days, over 5,000 Islamists have been arrested in a crackdown on minority violence across the country.
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