Bangladesh anti-Sheikh Hasina student protester Newton Das found to be Bengal voter

A man allegedly linked to the 2024 students’ protests in Bangladesh was found to be a voter in West Bengal’s Kakdwip Assembly constituency, The Hindu reported on Sunday.

Several images of the man, identified as Newton Das, participating in the agitation in the neighbouring country were widely shared on social media.

Das has claimed that he was an Indian citizen but acknowledged that he had actively participated in the protests in Bangladesh, The Hindu reported.

“I went to Bangladesh in 2024 for issues related to an ancestral property and got caught in the revolution,” The Hindu quoted Newton Das as saying in a video. “I have been a voter in Kakdwip since 2014 but lost my voter card in 2017.”

Newton Das said that he had received a fresh voter card in 2018 with the help of Trinamool Congress MLA Manturam Pakhira. He also claimed that he had voted for Pakhira, who represents Kakdwip, in the 2016 Assembly polls, The Hindu reported. The constituency is in South 24 Parganas district.

“This is a conspiracy against me by a particular community,” India Today quoted Newton Das as saying in the video.

He did not specify whether he was currently in India or Bangladesh.

His cousin Tapan Das, who resides in Kakdwip, claimed that Newton Das was born in Bangladesh and had exercised voting rights in both countries, The Hindu reported.

Tapan Das...

Read more