KOLKATA: Rabindra Ghoshthe Bangladeshi advocate fighting an uphill battle for jailed iskcon monk Chinmoy Krishna Dasreached India on Sunday evening for medical treatment, to the relief of his family, who were worried about his safety in the neighboring country.
Ghosh, 75, will be staying with his son, Rahul, who lives in Barrackpore with his wife and child.
The senior lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court, also the founder-president of Bangladesh Minority Watch, has been representing minority groups in Bangladesh for over three decades. He hit the headlines recently when he, while moving an application in a Chittagong court to fix early bail hearing for Chinmoy Krishna, allegedly came under attack from a group of lawyers.
Ghosh, from Unosottar Para in Chittagong, stays in Dhaka with wife Krishna.
‘Will appeal for shifting of monk case to Dhaka’
Rahul Ghosh, the son of Rabindra, the Bangladesh Iskcon monk’s lawyer, said, “I have been in constant touch with my parents.” Talking to TOI from Barrackpore, he said: “After the Chittagong court incident, I spoke to my father in Dhaka. He said he had lodged a police complaint in Chittagong after he was issued threats by fundamentalists. The real worry is that he might be given police protection in Chittagong, but he will have to stay unprotected in Dhaka.” Rahul said he has requested his father to stay in Barrackpore until things normalize in Bangladesh.
But Ghosh has told his friends and colleagues in Bangladesh that he would return before the new year to continue the fight.
“He is a man of principles,” said Rahul, adding, “Even we have become used to threats. It’s the price he – and, by extension, we – have had to pay for keeping up the fight. Even my sisters, who live in Canada, are worried.”
“My daughters have asked my wife and me to move to Canada several times. Why should I leave my motherland and the oppressed?” said Ghosh, a Muktijoddha. “I appealed to several local lawyers to fight the case for the monk, but there was no positive response. At this age, it is difficult for me to travel to Chittagong from Dhaka. We will appeal to the high court to shift the case to Dhaka,” he said.
