Indian Council of World Affairs

Abstract: The systematic extermination and targeting of the Hindu minority are reaching levels that even cannot be hidden by the Yunus led Interim Government or the state sponsored media anymore. While the world remains enamoured with global conflicts, a minority community in the neighbourhood faces a singular challenge of survival. 

From the genesis of East Pakistan in 1947 and later after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the Hindu minority, which represented an educated and culturally rich cluster of the demography, was an easy target for the political leadership either to appease the radical Islamic groups or to challenge the role of India, not being able to be a voice for the religious minority either in East Pakistan or in Bangladesh. Only under the leadership of the Awami League, there was an understanding that the government will make attempts to protect the social and cultural interests, property, dignity and lives of the Hindu minority, including its places of worship. However, the plight of the minority has taken a downward spiral after the dismissal of the Awami League government on August 2024. 

The recent attack on a Durga temple and the rape of a woman belonging from the Hindu minority by a local politician has flared significant outrage within the minority community. 

The demolition of the Durga temple by the government in Khilkhet area in Dhaka gave rise to outcry in the minority community. The government stated that though Bangladesh Railways had provided permission to organise a Durga Puja on railway land, but a temple was built in that location after the puja got over. On June 27, 2024, the Interim government through a press release stated that the Railways had provided for a make-shift Durga Mandap on the land, till the celebrations of the Puja. However, instead of removing the makeshift mandap, a ‘Kali Murti’ was established in that place, which has been demolished now.[i] However, the minority community accused the government of forcible demolition, without the issuance of any notification or information to any members of the community.[ii]

However, such demolition and desecration are not new. Last year, during the Durga Puja celebrations in the month of October 2024, 16 idols of Hindu deities were beheaded and 3 temples were desecrated. The attacks were carried out mostly in the Pabna district in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh.[iii] The External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar stated in the Lok Sabha while replying to a query with regard to attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh that “Government had expressed its serious concerns regarding the attack on a Puja mandap in Tantibazar, Dhaka and theft at the Jeshoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira during Durga Puja 2024”.[iv] In a press statement MEA stated that “these are deplorable events. They follow a systematic pattern of desecration and damage to temples and deities that we have witnessed over several days now.”[v]

There also has been outrage with the recent brutal gang-rape of a 21-year-old Hindu woman in the Cumilla district in Central Bangladesh by a member of the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) recently. The information regarding the incident came to light, when a video of the sexual assault went viral on social media.[vi] Students at Dhaka University held marches on campus to protest the rape, while residents of Jagannath Hall—a dormitory for minority community students—organized processions demanding justice.[vii] Till now, five have been arrested, including the local BNP leader.[viii] It is to be noted that such violent sexual assault on women belonging to the Hindu minority is not new and uncommon. There were even reports of looting of property after the assault was carried out.[ix] On March 28, 2025, replying to a query in the Parliament, Dr. Jaishankar stated that there were 2400 instances of atrocities against religious minorities in Bangladesh in 2024, and that the number stands at 72 in 2025 till the end of March 2025.[x]

The Interim government under Muhammad Yunus and future governments might remain mute spectators to such persecution or even in some instances support or protect such perpetrators. It is a question that remains unanswered, to how long will the religious minority have to bear such atrocities and persecution in a geography that has been their home for millennia.

*****

*Dr. Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee, Sr. Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal.

Endnotes

[i] “Bangladesh clarifies media reports on Durga temple destruction, says temple built without permission, land owned by Railways, Economic Times, June 30, 2025, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/bangladesh-clarifies-media-reports-on-durga-temple-destruction-says-temple-built-without-permission-land-owned-by-railways/articleshow/122123057.cms?from=mdr accessed on June 30, 2025

[ii] “Bangladesh clarifies Durga temple built without permission on Railway land”, The Business Standard, June 28, 2025, https://www.business-standard.com/external-affairs-defence-security/news/bangladesh-clarifies-durga-temple-built-without-permission-on-railway-land-125062800086_1.html accessed on June 30, 2025

[iii] “Bangladesh: 16 idols of Hindu deities beheaded, 3 temples desecrated ahead of Durga Puja, attacks on Hindus continued unabated”, Op India, October 4, 2024, https://www.opindia.com/2024/10/idols-vandalised-temples-desecrated-ahead-of-durga-puja-pabna-kishoreganj-bangladesh/ accessed on June 30, 2025

[iv] Lok Sabha, Question No- 75 Violence Against Hindus in Bangladesh, November 29, 2024, Ministry of External Affairs, https://www.mea.gov.in/lok-sabha.htm?dtl/38658/QUESTION+NO+75+VIOLENCE+AGAINST+HINDUS+IN+BANGLADESH accessed on June 30, 2025

[v] “India expresses “serious concern” over attack on Puja mandap, theft at Bangladesh temple, calls for safety of Hindus”, Doordarshan News, October 12, 2024, https://ddnews.gov.in/en/india-expresses-serious-concern-over-attack-on-puja-mandap-theft-at-bangladesh-temple-calls-for-safety-of-hindus/ accessed on June 30, 2025

[vi] “Massive protest in Bangladesh after Hindu woman raped by local politician”, India Today, June 30, 2025, https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/massive-protest-in-dhaka-after-hindu-woman-cumilla-raped-by-bangladesh-nationalist-party-politician-2748118-2025-06-30 accessed on June 30, 2025

[vii] “Massive Protests In Bangladesh After Hindu Woman Raped By Local Politician”, NDTV, June 30, 2025, https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/cumilla-rape-hindu-woman-raped-filmed-by-local-politician-in-bangladesh-protests-erupt-after-assault-video-surfaces-8796659 accessed on June 30, 2025

[viii] “Massive protest in Bangladesh after Hindu woman raped by local politician”, India Today, June 30, 2025, https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/massive-protest-in-dhaka-after-hindu-woman-cumilla-raped-by-bangladesh-nationalist-party-politician-2748118-2025-06-30 accessed on June 30, 2025

[ix] “Bangladesh: gang rape of two minority Hindu women and looting of property”, Case BGD 200204.VAW, OMCT – SOS Torture Network, https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/bangladesh-gang-rape-of-two-minority-hindu-women-and-looting-of-property accessed on June 30, 2025; “Bangladesh: politically motivated rape of three Hindu women”, Case BGD 280703.VAW, OMCT – SOS Torture Network, https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/bangladesh-politically-motivated-rape-of-three-hindu-women accessed on June 30, 2025

[x] “2,400 incidents of atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh in 2024, 72 in 2025: Jaishankar in LS”, The Indian Express, March 28, 2025, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/cases-atrocities-minorities-bangladesh-jaishankar-lok-sabha-9911015/ accessed on June 30, 2025