BENGAL BJP JOINS PROTEST AT INDO-BANGLA BORDER

The demonstration was organised under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, with participants arriving at the protest site

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

More than 1,000 monks from various parts of West Bengal gathered on Monday near the Petrapole border in North 24-Parganas to protest against attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh and to demand the release of detained ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The demonstration was organised under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, with participants arriving at the protest site, situated approximately 800 meters from the Petrapole border checkpoint, earlier in the day.

West Bengal BJP leaders, including the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also reached the spot and said: "A blockade is going on. This will go on for 24 hours, starting 6 am today. They should stop damaging temples, otherwise there will be a massive agitation. The 24-hour suspension of trade was just a trailer of what's going to happen next," Adhikari said, "If the attacks on Hindus and their religious establishments do not stop by next week, we will impose a five-day trade embargo. After the beginning of next year, we will stop trade for an indefinite period. We will see how the people there live without our potatoes and onions."