Barasat police have arrested three youths in West Bengal for allegedly desecrating the national flag of Bangladesh.
The arrested individuals, identified as Arya Das, Subir Das, and Ripon Chattopadhyay, are reported to be members of Bajrang Dal, according to police sources. Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist organization.
The desecration occurred on Tuesday near Barasat Station in North 24 Parganas. Authorities claim that the trio drew Bangladesh’s national flag on a road and trampled on it. Barasat police arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted and arrested two individuals initially, followed by a third.
This flag desecration comes in the wake of rising tensions between Bangladesh and India. Protests began after authorities in Bangladesh arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson for the Sanatani Jagaran Jote and a former leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), on sedition charges, prompting a strong reaction from India. Dhaka, in turn, condemned what it saw as interference in its internal matters.
The tensions escalated when the Bengali Hindu Jagaran, a religious group based in Kolkata, held protests outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata. Dhaka expressed its concern to India over this incident.
Shortly after, the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti attacked the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, Tripura, with the Bangladeshi flag being burned.
Amid these ongoing disputes, the latest incident of alleged flag desecration in West Bengal has drawn further attention.
The arrested youths claimed that they acted in retaliation after watching a video that purportedly showed the Indian flag being placed on the ground at the entrance of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), with students walking over it.
However, local journalists who visited Buet found no evidence of such an event, and students there were unaware of the claims.
In a related development, a viral photo circulated on social media showed a man dressed in traditional Punjabi attire holding a Bangladeshi flag while stepping on the Indian flag.
However, the fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner later confirmed that the image was digitally created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Bajrang Dal leader Bapan Biswas said saying: "We organized the act in retaliation for the disrespect shown to the Indian flag in Bangladesh."
Demanding the release of the arrested youths, Biswas added: "If the three arrested youths are not released, we will organize a larger protest."
