Bangladesh radicals during a protest in Dhaka

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the country’s largest minority group, has issued a strong condemnation of the ongoing communal violence targeting minorities across Bangladesh. 

In a statement released on April 20, 2025, the Council highlighted several recent incidents, including the murder of Bhavesh Chandra Roy in Biral, Dinajpur; the forced resignation of school headmaster Kantilal Acharya in Sitakunda, Chattogram; and the rape of a Marma girl in Kaukhali, Rangamati.

The Council reported that around fifty violent incidents occurred nationwide in March alone, encompassing murder, rape, attacks on temples, arrests over alleged religious defamation, assaults on indigenous people, and widespread looting of homes and businesses.

These events, according to Council leaders Ushatan Talukder, Nim Chandra Bhowmik, Nirmal Rozario, and Acting General Secretary Monindra Kumar Nath, have heightened fear and anxiety among minority communities during a period marked by unrest and communal tension. The Council has demanded the immediate arrest and strict punishment of the perpetrators under the law.

The murder of Bhavesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu community leader, has drawn particular attention. Roy was reportedly abducted from his home after receiving a suspicious phone call, then brutally assaulted and left unconscious before succumbing to his injuries.

This case, along with others, underscores the Council’s claim that the situation for minorities—especially Hindus—has deteriorated sharply since the leadership change in August 2024, when mass protests led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and the rise of an interim government.

Statistical data from the BHBCUC and independent reports reveal a disturbing escalation in violence. Between August and December 2024, over 2,000 attacks targeting minorities were documented, including 23 murders, 9 cases of sexual violence, 64 attacks on places of worship, 38 violent assaults on homes and businesses, and 25 instances of forced land and property seizures.

In the first two months of 2025 alone, 92 attacks were recorded, with 11 murders, 3 rapes, 25 attacks on temples, and numerous other violent acts. The Council has repeatedly pointed out that these incidents are part of a systematic pattern of persecution, exacerbated by the lack of minority representation in the post-Hasina interim government and ongoing discrimination.

While the Bangladesh government maintains that most incidents are political rather than communal in nature, and claims to have taken action against offenders, minority leaders and rights groups argue that the violence is overwhelmingly targeted and has created a climate of fear and insecurity for religious and ethnic minorities.

The Council continues to call for urgent legal action and increased protection for minority communities, warning that the current trajectory threatens the fabric of Bangladesh’s pluralistic society.

ANI