“..We always remained silent; whatever the students did, they did well. We had nothing to say. We stayed quiet… everything they did was fine. But today, why should we be the scapegoats amidst all this? What is our fault? Is it that we are Hindus? Today, when this situation arose in the country, they came from another direction with a procession and entered my house. My father’s business is here… my brother is a doctor, and his chamber is also within our house. They entered the chamber, destroyed everything, and left nothing behind. They were looking for my uncle, and they were looking for my brother. My mother helplessly looked on as they destroyed every little thing in the house… They beat up my father…”
This is an excerpt from a distressing livestream by a Bangladeshi Hindu woman who narrates how she was forced to leave the country after her family was attacked because of their religious identity. She mentions that her father’s house is in Mathbaria, located in the Barishal district of Bangladesh, and emphasizes that her family had never encountered any issues with anyone before the attack.
The woman in the above video is certainly not alone. Many Hindu families in Bangladesh had to face similar hate crimes after erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who led the country for 15 years, had resigned from her position and left the country on August 5, minutes before protesters stormed her official residence. Following Hasina’s resignation, reports quickly emerged of retaliatory attacks targeting her party, the Awami League, and those perceived as her allies, including the Hindu minority.
Hindus, who make up about 7.96% of the country’s population, were subjected to systematic and continuous attacks. The internet is rife with videos and images of rioters setting fire to Hindu homes and temples. Hashtags like #SaveBangladeshiHindus and #AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus quickly began trending on social media platforms. The situation was made worse by the lack of a functioning government and law enforcement.
Sworn in as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh on August 8, one of Mohammad Yunus’ first declarations was to assert the necessity to stop these attacks at the earliest. “Restoring law and order is our first task. We can not proceed without that… You have put your trust in me to lead your country… I have responded to the invitation of the student leaders… My plea to my fellow countrymen.. if you have faith in me, the first step is to ensure that no one is attacked anywhere in the country… Without this, my efforts are futile, and it would be better if I stepped aside,” he said in a video statement on August 9, flanked by student leaders.
On the same day, the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddist and Christian Unity Council, along with the Bangladesh Puja Ujjapon Parishad, released an extensive list of 205 incidents of attacks on Hindus in over 50 districts since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5. The 10-page document details attacks on political leaders, temples, Hindu-owned business establishments and civilians. It also notes that Prodip Kumar Bhowmik from Rayganj sub-district in Sirajganj, Haradhon Roy, an Awami League politician, and two other Hindus from Rangpur City Corporation, as well as Santosh Kumar, a police inspector from Baniachong police station, were killed during the unrest.
Several reports have mentioned a general panic among Hindu citizens in Bangladesh. Hindus, the largest religious minority group in the country, “are shivering,” Kajal Debnath, vice president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council told the Associated Press on August 13. “They are closing their doors, they are not opening it without confirming who is knocking. Everybody (in the Hindu minority)… from the Dhaka capital to the remote villages are very scared.”
Here are a few incidents of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh that Alt News could verify from local reports and social media evidences. This is in no way an exhaustive list.
Lalmonirhat
Lalmonirhat, a district in north Bangladesh bordering West Bengal, is part of the Rangpur division. According to the 2011 census, approximately 14% of its population is Hindu. Social media users have reported numerous hate crimes against Hindus in the area.
One such incident involved Jeevan Roy, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila Branch. His home was vandalised and looted, with his belongings destroyed. He was allegedly threatened at gunpoint and given three days to leave Bangladesh.
#সাবাস_বাংলাদেশ
বাংলাদেশ হিন্দু বৌদ্ধ খ্রিস্টান ঐক্য পরিষদ, লালমনিরহাট সদর উপজেলা শাখার সাধারণ সম্পাদক শ্রী জীবন রায়…
Posted by Muhin Sarker on Wednesday 7 August 2024
Another victim was Muhin Roy, a Hindu man who owns a computer shop named Design Vision in Lalmonirhat. According to his Facebook testimony, his shop was ransacked on August 5, the day Sheikh Hasina resigned. In a Facebook comment, he expressed his shame and disbelief, stating that he could never have imagined such a fate in Lalmonirhat.
অতি দুঃখের সাথে জানাচ্ছি, আপনাদের আবেগের, ভালোবাসার ‘ডিজাইন ভিশন’ ভাংচুর ও লুটপাট হয়েছে। সাময়িক সেবা বিঘ্নিত হওয়ায় দুঃখিত।
Posted by Muhin Sarker on Wednesday 7 August 2024
In the Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat, 12 Hindu houses were reportedly vandalized and torched in Purbo Sardubi village. Visuals of the aftermath show the devastation, including a temple inside one of the houses that was completely burned. Other nearby houses were also reduced to ashes. In the video, the person recording can be heard saying, ‘This is the condition of Bangladesh. Hindu households…’
#সাবাস_বাংলাদেশ
লালমনিরহাট জেলার হাতীবান্ধা থানার ফকির পাড়ার বুড়াসারডুবি গ্রামের স্বপন রায় এর বাড়িসহ অন্যান্য হিন্দু বাড়ি হামলা ও লুটপাট।
Posted by Muhin Sarker on Wednesday 7 August 2024
In the same district, a mob also vandalised the house of Pradip Chandra Roy, the secretary of Lalmonirhat Puja Udjapan Parishad, in Telipara village reports Daily Star. The incident also took place on August 5.
Bagerhat
In a chilling case of hate crime in the Bagerhat region of Khula division in southwestern Bangladesh, a Hindu schoolteacher named Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee was killed by a mob. 83.25% of Bagerhat’s population consists of Muslims while Hindus constitute 16.38%, according to the 2022 census.
His son-in-law stated in a video that there had been a land dispute with neighbours who were inclined towards the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. ‘My father-in-law was an innocent man, he was a teacher. He had good relations with everyone. But for the past two years, the other party has been threatening him, saying that they’ll kill him. On the day Hasina resigned, since 4-5 pm, the environment was quite charged. At that time, some people came into the house at around 8 pm and threatened to kill him, saying you won’t be able to escape to India… My father-in-law did not pay much attention. We didn’t know that they would come at 12 am. Some 10-12 people surrounded the house at that time and started breaking the windows. All of them were very young, around 16-17 years of age… My father-in-law has two daughters—one of them is a student in Dhaka. She was also part of the Quota movement. She came back when the university was closed down. On the day of the attack, my sister-in-law, my wife, my six-year-old child, my mother-in-law, and my father-in-law were at home. Around 12 am, they broke down the doors of the house, entered, and hit my father-in-law on the head with a hammer. They kept on hit him… on the back. Two people entered the house, two were guarding the house. There were more people surrounding the house. And around 50-60 people were celebrating on the main road outside. Nobody came to save him. He died on the spot… Then they looted the house, took all our money and gold. They broke everything, even the commode in the toilet. Their aim was to destroy everything in the house so that we would leave the land. My mother-in-law was also injured while trying to save her husband and had to undergo 34 stitches… She’s not supposed to be alive…’
Posted by Dr-Molla Amir Hossen on Saturday 10 August 2024
In a statement to Bangladeshi media outlet Independent Television, Chatterjee’s daughter Jhuma Rani recounted the horror. ‘I had my younger son and sister at home. I saved them by hiding them on the floor and under the bed. What is wrong with us? We are not a party. Why did they attack only us? They beat my old father to death with a hammer’, she said.
Thakurgaon, Panchagarh
In Panchagarh, the northernmost district of Bangladesh in Rangpur division, several Hindu homes were reportedly torched and vandalized after August 5. The population in Panchagarh consists of 16.55% Hindus and 83.09% Muslims.
In a Facebook livestream dated August 11, a huge fire is visible in the foreground, and the person recording can be heard saying that the incident occurred in Baroipur village at the house of a man named Jairam. He also says that no one was hurt in the incident according to information available at the time.
Posted by Bindu Roy on Sunday 11 August 2024
In another Facebook livestream from Panchagarh, a man is seen being apprehended by a large crowd. The stream was recorded in Lakshmi Para, next to Baroipara, just 40 minutes after the aforementioned livestream. The man was accused of being one of the individuals who set fire to a house in Baroipara. The person conducting the livestream is heard questioning whether this was truly an independent Bangladesh. He also speaks about the targeted attacks on minorities. “দেখুন সংখ্যালঘুদের ওপর কিভাবে হামলা হচ্ছে” (Translation: See how the minorities are being attacked in Bangladesh), the man is heard shouting in the video.
ময়দানদিঘী ইউনিয়ন বোদা থানা জেলা পঞ্চগড়
গ্রাম লক্ষ্মী পাড়া এই ঘটনাটি ঘটে
একজন ধরা পড়ছে জিজ্ঞাসাবাদে উনি বলে উনার বাসা দিনাজপুরেPosted by অনুসন্ধানে সত্যের on Sunday 11 August 2024
In the Thakurgaon district, also part of the Rangpur division, Hindu homes were torched and vandalised. Thakurgaon is a district in northwestern Bangladesh and borders India to the west. Muslims make up 76.70% of the population while Hindus are 22.26%, according to the 2011 census.
In a Facebook livestream, it was mentioned that miscreants had set fire to the temple neighbourhood in Farabari, Thakurgaon. The livestream showed several people attempting to put out the fire.
ঠাকুরগাঁও ফাড়াবাড়ী মন্দির পাড়ায় দুর্বৃত্তরা আগুন দিয়েছে
আজ সন্ধ্যা:- ৭ টা ৩০ মিনিটে।
১৩ আগস্ট ২০২৪Posted by Shanto Roy on Tuesday 13 August 2024
More recently, a house of a Hindu man named Mohen Chandra was set on fire in the main sub-district of Thakurgaon. During the incident, a young man was apprehended by the locals and handed over to the police. The man, Samiul, aged 20, reportedly hailed from the Darajgaon sub-district.
Jashore
In Manirampur, a Hindu man’s house was attacked and looted, and his son was abducted due to a financial dispute. Manirampur is an Upazila in the Jashore district in Khulna division in southwestern Bangladesh. The district consists of 89.61% Muslims and 10.19% Hindus, according to the 2022 census.
The incident reportedly occurred at Palash Ghosh’s house in Ghoshpara. The attack was led by a Madrasa teacher named Abul Hasan who owed Ghosh 5 lakh Taka. Hasan demanded a ransom of 10 Lakh, looted the house, and took Palash’s son, Piyas Ghosh, as well as a motorcycle. The son was rescued after four hours through the intervention of a local BNP leader. The police were unaware of the incident.
In a video testimony, Palash’s wife can be seen in tears. “They came to our house and looted us. They took our motorcycle, money and even cows. They also abducted my 14-year-old son.” She names Abul Hasan as one f the perpetrators and claims she didn’t know the others. Palash is then heard saying that the mob beat him up and made him sign a blank stamp.
এই স্বাধীন দেশ আমরা চাইনি ছাত্র-জনতা।
জালালপুর ঘোষপাড়া-মনিরামপুর-যশোর।
ধিক্কার জানাই।।Posted by Palash Kumar Ghosh on Thursday 8 August 2024
Patuakhali
A Hindu family’s home in Khalishakhali village, the main sub-district of Patuakhali, was attacked and looted on the evening of August 7. Patuakhali is a town and district headquarters of Patuakhali district located on the southern bank of Laukathi River in the division of Barisal in Bangladesh. Patuakhali consists of 86.08% Muslims and 13.82% Hindus.
The incident occurred around 8:30 pm at the residence of Abhilash Talukdar, 36, and his wife Mukta Debnath. The attackers, 10 to 12 people armed with sticks and chapatis, were from the same area and known to the family.
The attack occurred after Abhilash’s father-in-law, Laxman Debnath, a former Union Parishad member, decided to stay with them as he had been feeling unsafe in his own home following political changes in the area. When Mukta opened the door, the group forced their way in, ransacking the house and looting gold jewellery and 30,000 rupees in cash. The attackers demanded more money, and the family paid an additional 50,000 rupees through Abhilash’s relatives to make them leave.
According to Abhilash’s wife’s testimony to ATN News, the mob also asked them to leave the area and not disclose details about the incident to anybody else or they would be killed. They also threatened her with physical violence for raising her voice during the incident. She named one of the accused, Riyaz Molla, in the interview.
In response to this, at a press conference held at the Patuakhali Press Club, district BNP general secretary Snehangshu Sarkar Kutri condemned the attack on the family and demanded strict action for those involved.
Meherpur
Since, August 5, several attacks have been targeted at minorities in Meherpur. Meherpur is the northwestern district of Khulna Division in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by West Bengal to the west, and by the Bangladeshi districts of Kushtia and Chuadanga to the east. Meherpur consists of 97.87% Muslims and 1.20% Hindus according to the 2022 census.
According to a Prothom Alo report, by August 6, nine Hindu homes had been attacked, including one belonging to an Awami League member.
On August 6, Sumohand Mukund Das from ISKCON spoke to Times Now about the vandalism of an ISKCON temple in Meherpur. He revealed that the incident involved not just arson but also bomb detonations by the vandals. Das shared visuals of the temple’s burnt remnants, expressing his fear and helplessness, and highlighted that such incidents are common in Bangladesh, with no justice for the Hindu community. He pleaded for global support, mentioning that there is still no security provided, that he remains in hiding, and cannot go out in public wearing saffron clothing. He also noted that despite repeatedly calling the fire services, no help arrived.
Below are some more visuals after the temple was vandalised. (Pictures from Facebook)
Click to view slideshow.On Tuesday, August 6, it was reportedly discovered that the house of Pallab Bhattacharya, a resident of Hotel Bazar in Meherpur and the district Awami League legal affairs secretary, had been set on fire the previous day. The ground floor of his two-storey house was completely destroyed. At the time of the attack, Bhattacharya was in Japan visiting his daughter and newborn grandson, leaving the house unoccupied. According to witnesses, around 5 pm on August 5, a group of youths attacked Bhattacharya’s house with sticks, rods, and iron pipes. They broke the entrance gate, looted the house, and then set fire to the furniture.
Simultaneously, the attackers targeted another individual named Chitta Saha’s business, looting goods. In another incident, Leena Bhattacharya’s house on Rabindranath Road was also targeted, where four people were beaten up, valuables were stolen, and the house was set on fire. Additionally, six houses in Malopara were vandalized, and family members were beaten up.
Faridpur
A 75-year-old man was brutally beaten up in Naopara village of Bhanga Upazila of Faridpur. Faridpur District is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Faridpur consists of 91.49% Muslims and 8.44% Hindus according to the 2022 census.
Amarendra Kumar Ghosh Palan, who was admitted to the Bhanga Upazila Health Complex, stated that he was attacked by six or seven individuals, including his neighbours Babul Miah, Minhaj Miah, and Hasan Miah, due to previous enmity. He sustained injuries to his hands, legs, and other body parts during the assault. The attackers taunted him, questioning whether he could seek police help.
In response to the incident, members of the local minority community have called for immediate punishment for those responsible. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed strong disapproval and condemnation of the communal violence occurring during the regime change.
“Attacks more Politically Motivated, than Communal”
Speaking to AP, Nahid Islam, one of the student leaders at the forefront of the protests who is now a minister in the interim government, said the violence was more politically motivated than religious.
It is important to note that historically, the Awami League has been seen as pro-Hindu and pro-India.
Alt News also spoke to a Hindu student from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Dhaka. He told us that most of the attacks on the Hindus occurred between August 5 and 6. Some of the attacks were due to political reasons, but the others were aimed at civilians — their shops were attacked and houses burnt down. They also looted cattle and goats. In one case, they stole 58 cows. My grandfather had a sweet shop in Pabna, that was also attacked.”
“We got news that there were at least 10 attacks on August 6 itself in the Rangpur division. Even in Panchagarh, many such attacks have taken place. Means of livelihood for many Hindus have been lost. Things have become slightly better of late. But there is still a sense of fear among the Hindus. There were so many attacks in Rangpur that they had to prepare for self-defence. Attackers were caught and handed over to the army. The pressing question on the minds of Hindus now is: How many more nights must we stay awake to protect ourselves?,” he added.
The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh sparked a flurry of misinformation on the social media space in India. Alt News debunked three videos in which attacks on youth leaders of Awami League in educational institutions were passed off as targeted assault on Hindus. Besides, unrelated and old videos, cases of accidental fire were also peddled as attacks on Hindus.
The post ‘What is our fault?… that we are Hindus?’ Tales of attacks on minorities pour in from Bangladesh appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.
Shinjinee Majumder | Radio Free (2024-08-18T10:38:02+00:00) ‘What is our fault?… that we are Hindus?’ Tales of attacks on minorities pour in from Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/08/18/what-is-our-fault-that-we-are-hindus-tales-of-attacks-on-minorities-pour-in-from-bangladesh/
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