Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Bangladeshi police detained Rev Gilbart Biswas for preaching the Gospel and selling religious booklets during Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest Islamic pilgrimage in the world after the Hajj, which is held every year in Tongi (near Dhaka), on the banks of the Turag River.
The clergyman was taken into custody last Saturday. Deployed to provide security to the event, police justified his arrest on “security grounds” because of his “suspicious behaviour”. One officer said that “no one can proclaim the Gospel on other religious sites.”
In reality, the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees every citizen the right to profess, practice and propagate their faith.
“We are very concerned about the arrest of Rev Gilbart Biswas,” said a fellow clergyman, anonymous for security reasons. “He did not commit any crime and was arrested illegally by the police, which has not yet released him.”
