Hindutva group stages protest outside Bangladesh mission in Mumbai

Members of the Hindutva organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) staged a protest right in front of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Mumbai.

Nearly 150 VHP leaders and activists arrived without prior warning, chanting anti-Bangladesh slogans just 30 metres from the mission on Wednesday afternoon, after office hours. At one point, scuffles broke out between the VHP supporters and police.

Several diplomatic sources in Mumbai confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo. They said Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner Farhana Chowdhury and several others left the mission for home after office hours at 5:00 pm local time as usual.

However, without any prior notice, around 150 VHP leaders and activists gathered on the opposite side of the World Trade Centre in Mumbai around 5:15 pm local time. The police officials on duty were startled seeing such a gathering all of a sudden.

At that time, the protesters chanted different slogans denouncing Bangladesh. When the police tried to push them back, a scuffle broke out.

After roughly half an hour, the VHP protesters left the area in front of the Bangladesh mission due to police intervention.

Sources in Mumbai said that usually only a few police officers are posted outside the mission, but in the past few days, 15 additional officers had been deployed there.