A reception in honor of Gautam Chakraborty, a minister in the Bangladeshi government, by members of New York’s Bangladeshi Hindu community has ignited controversy in the Bangladeshi community in New York.
The parties of the conflict are Ajoy Ghose, host of the reception, who is a member of a Bangladeshi Hindu community organization and Bidyut Sarkar, the former president of a similar organization.
It seems the conflict is around a proposition by the minister, supported by Ghose, to create a Hindu, Buddhist and Christian unity organization in New York, which would be philosophically friendly to the current Bangladeshi government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP.) However, an organization already exists, of which Sarkar is a member, which also promotes Hindu, Buddhist, Christian unity, but is critical of the BNP for repression against minority groups.
On the night of October 17, Sarkar and Ghose had an altercation during dinner, which allegedly broke out into a fistfight. Police arrived at the scene and an ambulance took Ghose to a hospital. Ghose told Bangla Patrika that he would like the police to pursue the matter.
Sarkar told our paper that he was consulting a lawyer. He said, “Ghose, a citizen of India and resident of Calcutta, is poking his nose in Bangladeshi affairs by arranging a reception for a Bangladeshi minister.” He said that the Bangladeshi Hindu Community could not tolerate any activities either of Pakistani or of Indian origin regarding Bangladesh affairs. Sarkar alleged that Ghose has a political affiliation with the National Socialist Party, which in turn has a relationship with Naxalite groups in India. Sarkar said that the Naxalite movement opposed the independence movement of Bangladesh.
Sarkar said that the ongoing repression of the Hindus in Bangladesh and Ghose’s support to the ruling party of Bangladesh is objectionable. He alleged that Ghose is an Indian Passport holder.
In response, Ghose said the matter of his citizenship is irrelevant to the issue. "Now I am an American citizen," he said.
