On 12th February this year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a 104-page report [pdf] detailing atrocities committed against vulnerable Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
The report is titled ‘Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh.’ Its publication becomes crucial since the interim government in Bangladesh, led by Muhammad Yunus, is pandering to Islamists.
He has strategically remained tight-lipped on their activities. Yunus’ regime has released Islamic hardliners and convicted terrorists and tried to downplay attacks on Hindu minorities as ‘fake‘, ‘exaggerated‘ or ‘politically motivated‘.
OHCHR report on Bangladesh
The findings of the OHCHR expose the grim reality that Muhammad Yunus tried to brush under the carpet. Page 52 of the report makes direct references to the targeted attacks on the Hindu community. It read,
“Violent mobs engaged in serious acts of revenge violence, including killings, targeting police and Awami League officials, especially from early August onwards. Some Hindus…were also subjected to human rights abuses, including the burning of homes and attacks on places of worship, with different underlying motivations.“
The Human Rights group noted that the administration failed to provide an effective response to prevent human rights abuses by non-state actors (a reference to violent Muslim mobs).
On Page 55 of the report, OHCHR made references to the attack on Hindus and Indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Gplus reported in September 2024 how violent Muslim mobs attacked the Buddhist Chakma and Hindu Tripuri communities in Dighinala and Khagrachhari Sadar in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. The accused set fire to more than 200 shops and homes belonging to minority groups. The Muslim mob also attacked a Buddhist temple, carried out an arson attack and murdered multiple victims.
Page 55 of the OHCHR report made references to widespread attacks on homes, businesses, and places of worship belonging to the Hindu communities in Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Sylhet, Khulna, and Rangpur.
“This destruction was especially prevalent in areas perceived to be sympathetic to the Awami League, as Hindus have often been stereotypically associated with this political faction,” it stated.
The human rights body also pointed out (on Page 56 of the report) how Hindu headmasters and teachers were coerced into resigning from their jobs. The report revealed the extent of the attack on the Hindu community –
“OHCHR interviewed Hindu businessowners and homeowners in some of these areas, who reported that their businesses, houses, land and religious sites had been targeted, while shops owned by Hindus were also looted. The violence often involved property destruction,
arson, and physical threats, compounded by insufficient police responses, suggesting systemic impunity and potential political motives.
For instance, one interviewee said that Hindu funeral sites and temples were vandalized in Thakurgaon, and other witnesses
described that, after attacks on their property, approximately 3,000 – 4,000 Hindus from those villages, fearing communal violence, had sought refuge near the border with India, but were reportedly turned back by India’s Border Security Force (BSF).406 Affected families reported a pervasive sense of insecurity and heavy financial losses, with many losing essential items, livestock, and whole businesses.
…National Security Intelligence (NSI) information provided to OHCHR through the Interim Government details 37 violent attacks targeting minorities that occurred between 5 and 15 August. These attacks occurred in Jessore, Noakhali, Patuakhali, Natore, Dinajpur, Chandpur, Shariatpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Mherpur, Barguna, Barisal, Rajbari, Thakurgaon, Faridpur, Pirojpur, and Netrakorna. Most of the reported attacks involved the vandalising, looting or burning of one or several homes or businesses.
Four attacks targeted temples. In some of these cases the victims were physically assaulted, including one woman whose throat was slit and a man who was injured with sharp weapons. Nine of the identified victims were associated with Awami League political activity. In respect of five attacks, the NSI report identified BNP supporters among the attackers.”
It found that a majority of attacks took place during ‘victory processions’ of individuals, celebrating the ouster of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. OHCHR noted that the attackers were local supporters of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Page 62 of the report stated –
“Some local members and supporters of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami opposition parties bear responsibility for human rights abuses committed during revenge attacks, including against members of the Hindu community.”
Coincidentally, Muhammud Yunus has been furthering the agenda of Sheikh Hasina’s rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party one step at a time.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Unity Council issues statement
Following the publication of the OHCHR report, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) issued a statement demanding an all-out investigation into cases of communal violence since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.
It thanked the UN Human Rights group for acknowledging the attacks on the Hindu community but said that the OHCHR report ‘failed’ to report the full scale of communal violence and systemic discrimination. BHBCUC said that the report omitted critical details about the broader human rights abuses.
The advocacy group called upon Muhammad Yunus to revoke the broad immunity granted to supposed ‘student protests’ who unleashed mayhem between 15th July and 8th August.
Attack on Hindus in Bangladesh since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina
Gplus has been vetting and reporting cases of atrocities on Hindus since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on 5th August 2024.
There have been at least 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops and businesses within 3 days of the fall of Dhaka.
We previously exposed how Muslim students have forced as many as 60 Hindu teachers, professors and government officials to resign from their positions.
Human rights activist and exiled Bangladeshi blogger, Asad Noor, has recently revealed that the minority community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’.
On 6th September, a procession of Hindu devotees carrying the idol of Lord Ganesha came under attack in the Kadam Mubarak area in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.
Ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations, a radical Muslim man named Yasin Mia vandalised the idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities in Gouripur town in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh on 25th September.
In the latest series of attacks, idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities were vandalised at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap and the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap on 28th September and 1st October respectively.
The attacks were carried out in Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh. While a total of 4 idols were defaced at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap, another 5 Hindu idols were destroyed at the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap.
On 3rd October, 7 idols of Hindu deities were destroyed at the Gopinath Jiur Akhara Durga Puja mandap in Kishoreganj, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh.
On 5th November, the Hindu community came under attack from police and law enforcement authorities in Hazari Goli in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.
On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked Hindu minorities and vandalised 3 temples in Patharghata in Chittagong district of Bangladesh.
The Hindu religious sites that the Muslims targeted included the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the Shoni Temple, and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple. The attack took place immediately after the conclusion of Jumma Namaz.
On 30th November, a prominent Hindu journalist named Munni Saha was arrested by the police from Karwan Bazar in Dhaka city of Bangladesh.
A group of extremists attacked the Mahashmashan Kali Mata Mandir, vandalised 7 idols of deities and stole gold ornaments on 13th December 2024.
On 19th December, a Muslim man identified as Alal Uddin vandalised an idol at the Polashkanda Kali Temple and then attempted to create a fake alibi. The incident occurred in Haluaghat upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.
Another 37-year-old Muslim man identified as Azharul vandalised several idols of deities in Haluaghat Upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.
The recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides, attempts at banning Hindu organisation ISKCON and stiffling Hindu protests with cases of ‘sedition’ highlight systematic persecution under the interim government of Muhammad Yunus.
There have been multiple instances of attacks on Hindus under the pretext of ‘blasphemy.’ The recent cases of Hridoy Pal, Utsab Mandal, Partha Biswas Pintu, Akash Das, Pranta Talukder and Utsab Kumar Gian are shining examples of targeted persecution.
