The religious and ethnic minorities are not safe in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August 2024 (Paul & Das, 2024). Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) recorded 2276 incidents of violence against religious and ethnic minorities from 4 August to February 2025(Minority Watch, 2025). The incidents include murder, rape, sexual assault, torture, abduction, land grabbing, forced resignation and vandalism of places of worship. The mobs under the meticulous design of the present Yunus government and his political allies, e.g. Jamat-e-Islami, Hizb-ut-Tahrir etc. Attacked the ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Apart from the reports of BHBCUC, there are reports that the properties and places of worship belonging to Ahmadiya community were also under attack (Al Hakkam, 7 August 2024). It is further reported that sufism is under attack in Bangladesh and 100s of shrines are destroyed systematically (Chaudhury, 2025).
The Hindus in Bangladesh have been attacked from 4 August 2024. Victims said that shouting allahu akbar and naraye takbir, mobs backed by Islamist fundamentalists, e.g., Jamat, Hizb-ut-Tahrir etc. attacked houses, business establishments and places of worships. The mob used social media, like – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc. to organize these attacks. After 5 August, the Islamist mobs attacked schools and colleges where Hindu teachers are working (The Daily Star, 31 August 2024). Mobs are attacking Hindu teenagers allegedly for making derogatory comments over social media on Islam or Prophet. One of them was Utsav Mondal, a 16-year-old boy of Khulna, who was snatched from a police station when he was in the custody of Police and Army (Times of India, 6 September 2024). Later they lynched them. We do not know where Utsav is now or what happened to him. Hunting Hindu men and children for allegedly making blasphemous comments are continuing (D. Dutta, 2025). The Army killed Hridoy Rabi Das of Karimganj, Kishoreganj on 16 November 2024 since it was alleged that he loved a Muslim girl (Prothom Alo, 19 November 2024). No one is arrested so far in relation to this incident.
The activists who were raising their voices against these atrocities are either killed or put behind bar in baseless cases. For example, journalist Swapan Kumar Bhadra was killed (HRCBM, 2024) and Chinmoy Krishna Das of ISKCON was arrested in a baseless sedition case and he is still behind in prison (NDTV, 7 March 2025). The Yunus government is yet to arrest anyone for killing Swapan Kumar Bhadra. Hindus are living in fear in Bangladesh (Marof, 2024) since the government can neither protect them nor can ensure justice for the crimes committed to them. Soon after the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, the Police together with Islamist mobs systematically attacked the followers of Das. People from different parts of Chattogram including lawyers were protesting against his arrest. Earlier on 5 November 2024, to silence the voices who were protesting crimes committed to religious minorities, the joint forces of both the Army and the Police attacked Hajarir Goli, an area where most of the inhabitants are Hindus and arrested more than 600 Hindu young people while tortured more than 100 people (B.Bangla, 2024; Social media link).
Religious minority and adivasi women were specifically targeted by the Islamists. For example, the case of Lipika Gomez, a Christian woman who was killed on the night of 11 September 2024 in her home on Hrishikesh Das Road, Sutrapur, Dhaka or the killing of Rani, a 50-year-old Adivasi woman living alone in Rajshahi. Police arrested some culprits. But the government could not answer why were these women targeted?
The ethnic minorities living in the Chattogram Hil Tracts were attacked by Islamist hooligans on 19 September 2024, which continued for 2-days. The mainstream media reported that more than 3 people died (the Daily Star, 20 September 2024) and 55 people were injured (the Prothom Alo, 20 September 2024) during this attack while hundreds of establishments were vandalized. We still do not know exact numbers of people who were arrested for these attacks.
The Islamist mobs attacked nearly 40 shrines all over Bangladesh (Sarkar, 2025) and due to their threat cultural activities like – Lalon Festival (in November 2024: NDTV World, 24 November 2024 and in February 2025: the Dhaka Tribune, 13 February 2025), Spring Festival (BD.Digest, 14 February 2025) and Theater programs (Bd.Digest, 16 February 2025) were cancelled. These were big blows to the cultural activism in Bangladesh, which are considered as crucial for maintaining the secular character of the country.
The government is underplaying the claim that these crimes are committed targeting the religious or ethnic identity of the victims. The current interim government is denying probing into this matter and holding their ground at the recent UN side event as well.
The Yunus government is censoring the media meticulosly. The discriminatory behaviour of the current government is only revealing their intention not to protect the religious and ethnic minorities of Bangladesh. Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus is completely silent about these issues and his silence is lauder than anything. The recent UN report has also supported the government claim rather than forcing the government to investigate the matter and to protect the minorities. The religious and the ethnic minorities of Bangladesh are losing hope, and they are waiting for justice.
International Human Rights Lawyer in exile.