Bangladesh heads to the polls as minorities face an uncertain future

Between December 2025 and January 2026, Bangladesh saw a renewed spate of violence against religious minorities, especially members of the Hindu community, according to police reports and documentation by human rights groups including Amnesty International and the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC). A series of killings was reported in the aftermath of the assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi, a youth leader known for promoting anti-India sentiment.

Among the reported cases is the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a 29-year-old garment factory worker, who was lynched by a mob in the northern district of Mymensingh, following what police described as false blasphemy allegations. Local media reported he was tied to a tree and set on fire.

In a separate incident in the same district, Bajendra Biswas, a 40-year-old paramilitary officer, was shot dead by unidentified assailants.

Elsewhere, Khokon Chandra Das, a 50-year-old businessman in Shariatpur district in central Bangladesh, was attacked by a group of men armed with sharp weapons. He was beaten, set on fire and died in hospital three days after the assault, according to media reports.

In Jessore district in southern Bangladesh, Rana Pratap Bairagi, a 45-year-old businessman and a newspaper editor, was fatally shot in the head, with the attackers also slitting his throat.

Other incidents include the stabbing to death of Sarat Mani Chakraborty, a 40-year-old grocery shop owner in Narsingdi district in central Bangladesh, and the beating to death of Samir Das, a 28-year-old auto-rickshaw driver in Feni district in the country’s southeast.

All the victims identified in the incidents were members of the Hindu community, Bangladesh’s largest religious minority, which comprises around 8 percent of the population according to the 2022 national census.

Post Hasina unrest

Bangladesh experienced a wave of communal violence following the ouster of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024, amid student-led protests that led to her resignation.

Amnesty International reported that, in the immediate aftermath, houses, places of worship, and business establishments belonging to religious minorities were attacked in various parts of the country.

Local media outlets documented widespread vandalism, looting and arson targeting Hindu temples, houses, and businesses. Reports also emerged of beatings, sexual assaults and killings involving members of the Hindu and Christian community, with the BHBCUC warning that many families were left displaced and without livelihoods.

Members of the Ahmadiyya community, a minority sect within Islam, were also subjected to attacks according to rights organisations and media reports.

The BHBCUC said that at least 2,010 incidents of communal violence were reported across the country between August 4 and 20, 2024.

In a public statement, India expressed deep concern for what it describes as the “unremitting hostility against minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, Buddhists and Christians at the hands of extremists”.

While the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has described the violence as largely political, the nature of many attacks suggests a more complex picture. Numerous incidents involved the vandalism of Hindu temples, the burning of homes identified by religious symbols, and lynchings following allegations of blasphemy.

The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) noted that religious identity and communal tensions, in addition to political affiliation, have played a role in the violence.

According to the UN report, witnesses to some of the incidents have identified the attackers to be local supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, two major political forces in the country. In one documented case, a victim told investigators that local BNP leaders were among those involved in the attack.

Background and contested histories of the two main political parties

Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) has a long and controversial history marked by religious extremism and political violence. Founded in 1941 in colonial India in Lahore (now in Pakistan), the party was established with the aim of advancing an explicitly Islamic social and political order across the subcontinent.

In Pakistan, Jamaat played a central role in the anti-Ahmadiyya agitation called the Lahore Riots in 1953, which resulted in widespread violence and the deaths of an estimated 2000 people, according to some historians.

Jamaat had opposed the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 and aligned itself with the Pakistani Army, assisting its campaign against the independence movement. Scholars and human rights organisations have documented that Jamaat-linked militias collaborated in widespread abuses during the conflict, including the selective and targeted killing of Bengali Hindus and Bengali intellectuals irrespective of religion. These crimes formed part of a broader campaign of mass violence that many scholars and international observers have described as genocidal in which up to three million people are estimated to have died and millions more displaced or injured.

In Pakistan, Jamaat subsequently supported General Zia Ul Haq’s Islamization programme following the military overthrow of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1977.

Founded in 1979, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP identifies itself as a nationalist party rather than an Islamist one. However, critics have long pointed to its alliances with Islamist groups, most notably with Jamaat, which helped mainstream religious discourse in its politics. In 1977, during the presidency of Ziaur Rahman, the Party’s founder, Bangladesh’s constitution was amended to remove “secularism” as a foundational principle of the state.

Reports and judicial probing have linked supporters and leaders of the BNP-led coalition and its Jamaat allies with targeted violence against religious minorities, including killings, rape, arson and looting in the aftermath of the 2001 elections in Bangladesh.

As Bangladesh is preparing for general elections scheduled for February 12, the future of the country’s religious minorities remains uncertain.

The BNP and Jamaat have emerged as two of the principal forces seeking to shape the post-election landscape. For the first time in its history, Jamaat has nominated a candidate from the Hindu community. The BNP, meanwhile, has sought to project a secular-friendly image ahead of the elections. However, the historical record of both parties, and recurring episodes of minority-targeted violence, raises concerns about minority protection in Bangladesh.

Whether a future government led by either formation will demonstrate the political will to ensure minority protection and systemic justice in Bangladesh remains an open question.

Local and international media reports

The Times of India, Another Hindu man killed in Bangladesh, 8th casualty since December 18 (report on the murder of Samir Das), 14 January 2026. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/another-hindu-man-killed-in-bangladesh-8th-casualty-since-december-18/articleshow/126515516.cms

International organisations, rights organisations and NGOs

Other (including government data)

Britannica (information on Jamaat-i-Islami’s history, incl its support for Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamisation campaign), edited on 28 January 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jamaat-i-Islami

Britannica, Zia-ul-Haq (on Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamisation program). https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/Zia-ul-Haq

2022 census of Bangladesh population by religious breakdown (page viii). https://sid.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/sid.portal.gov.bd/publications/01ad1ffe_cfef_4811_af97_594b6c64d7c3/PHC_Preliminary_Report_(English)_August_2022.pdf

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