On December 7, 2025, Police recovered the bodies of Hindu freedom fighter Yogesh Chandra Roy (75) and his wife Subarna Roy (60) from their home in North Rahimapur in Taraganj Upazila (Sub-District) of Rangpur District. Initial findings suggest both died from head injuries.
On December 5, 2025, a Hindu fish trader, Utpal Sarkar, was killed by unidentified attackers near the Kalitala Bridge in the Gourdia area of Faridapur District.
On December 2, 2025, a Hindu trader, Prantosh Karmakar, was shot dead by two persons at Dighalikandi village in the Raipura Sub-District of Narsingdi District. He had a jewelry shop in the local market.
On October 4, 2025, President of the Natore District Mohajote Bhaskar Bagchi was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Lalbazar area of Natore District.
On September 14, 2025, the body of a Hindu businessman, Kritish Das of Habiganj District, was found at Jaflong in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh.
On August 22, 2025, Police recovered the body of senior Hindu journalist and columnist Bibhuranjan Sarkar (71) from Meghna River in the Kalagachhia area of Gazaria Sub-District in Munshiganj District, a day after he went missing.
In addition to these fatal incidents, the Hindu community has also faced repeated attacks in the shape of arson, vandalism, assault, abductions, rape and attacks on places of worship, among others.
Apart from Hindus, other sections of minority populations in Bangladesh have also been repeatedly attacked since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2025. Some such instances include:
On November 7, 2025, two men riding a motorcycle threw crude bombs at the gate of St. Mary’s Cathedral Church in the Kakrail area of Dhaka City. No one was injured or killed in the incident.
On October 8, 2025, a crude bomb exploded in front of the Holy Rosary Church in the Tejgaon area of Dhaka. Tejgaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Mobarak Hossain stated that two people on a motorcycle threw the crude bomb in front of the church gate and fled. Hossain added that no one was injured.
On September 5, 2025, a mob vandalised a Sufi Shrine at Panishail Chandrapukur village in the Paba Sub-District of Rajshahi District.
On June 3, 2025, some miscreants broke into Shanti Kunj Bouddha temple in the Rangunia Sub-District of Chittagong District, and robbed the donation box and other valuables after holding the priest hostage.
On April 7, 2025, a namaz (prayer) centre of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the Bahadurpur area of the Pangsha Sub-District in Rajbari District, was vandalised.
On March 17, 2025, at least 20 people were injured as the Ismail Shah Shrine in the Amtali Sub-District of Barguna District came under an arson attack during an urs (memorial gathering held at the shrine of a Sufi saint).
According to partial data collated by Institute for Conflict Management, since August 5, 2024, there have been at least 34 instances of minority persecution in Bangladesh. Minorities have been subjected to arrest, lynching, abduction, forcible resignation from jobs, robbery, forcible religious conversion, desecration of their temples, idols and places of worship, land grab, etc. The affected Districts were Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Sunamganj and Moulvibazar in the east; Mymensingh, Rangpur, Kurigram and Dinajpur in the north; Khulna, Patuakhali and Lakshmipur in the south; Narsingdi, Faridpur and Munshiganj in the central region; Rajshahi and Natore in the west; and Rangamati in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), among others.
The report, Country policy and information note: religious minorities and atheists, Bangladesh, June 2025, published by the Government of the United Kingdom observes:
The largest religious minority are Hindus, who make up approximately 8% (around 13 million) of the population. Large Hindu populations live in the south, east and north of the country, with the highest number residing in Sylhet…The remaining 1% (about 1.5 to 2 million) of the population is made up of: Christians, who number around 500,000 and live across the country with high concentrations in Barishal, Gopalganj, Dhaka City, Gazipur and Khulna. Buddhists, who number around 1,000,000 and mainly reside in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the north of the country… Others include Ahmadis, who number around 100,000 and Sufis… Atheists are estimated to number around 171,100 or 0.1% of the total population…”
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), 2025, Annual Report, (published in March, 2025) notes, “Hundreds of Hindus were reportedly killed in the violence following prime minister Hasina’s departure, though reporting suggests the killings were likely related to political affiliation rather than religion. Ahmadiyya Muslim communities also reported physical attacks and vandalism to their property…”
As reported on July 10, 2025, according to Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), at least 258 incidents of attacks on minorities, including 27 murders, took place across Bangladesh in first six months of 2025 (January to June). Also, from January to June, there were 20 incidents of violence against women, including rape; and 59 attacks on places of worship involving vandalism, looting, and arson. 27 incidents of attacks, vandalism, looting, and arson on homes and businesses, 12 cases of land and property seizures, four incidents of physical assault and forced resignations, 12 attacks on ethnic minorities, and 16 incidents of interference with religious rituals and abductions. Manindra Kumar Nath, acting general secretary of BHBCUC, stated that the data reflects a continuation of violence against minorities, which intensified after the 2024 political transition. Nath thus notes, “Between August 4 and December 31, 2024, we documented 2,184 incidents. With the 258 reported in the first half of 2025, the total rises to 2,442 over the past 11 months.”
Apart from incidents of violence, examples showcase that the current disposition of Bangladesh is systematically working to weaponize the radicals and erase the presence of minorities from all walks of life:
On August 22, 2025, Shafiur Rahman Farabi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of writer-blogger Avijit Roy (February 26, 2025), was released on bail granted by the High Court. Farabi walked out of Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur District.
On July 15, 2025, the ancestral house of filmmaker Satyajit Ray, formerly known as Mymensingh Shishu Academy, was demolished in Mymensingh District.
On June 10, 2025, miscreants vandalized the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore. Confirming the case, Shahjadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Aslam Ali disclosed that a Police operation was continuing to arrest the accused involved in the attack on Rabindra Kacharibari.
On November 25, 2024, Chandan Kumar Dhar aka Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a Hindu spiritual leader and former member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was arrested on charges of sedition, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area of Dhaka. He still remains in custody. The Bangladesh High Court granted him bail on April 30, 2025, in the sedition case, but the Supreme Court quickly stayed the order the same evening. A rehearing was postponed due to court closures, keeping Das under detention. In early May 2025, a Chittagong court named him arrested in a lawyer’s (Saiful Islam Alif) murder case during clashes over his bail protests, among other charges.
The Islamist radical groups, which got a new lease of life after August 5, 2024, have been stridently vocalizing anti-minority sentiments. On November 15, 2025, the Sammilito Khatme Nabuwat Parishad launched a year-long programme at an international conference in Dhaka, demanding that the government declare Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim. “If the Qadianis [Ahmadiyyas] are not declared non-Muslim, tougher programmes will be announced,” Mohiuddin Rabbani, secretary general of International Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwat, Bangladesh, who was present at the programme, declared. Earlier, on June 4, 2025, Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) issued a public statement demanding withdrawal of the newly issued 20-BDT banknote because its design featured the Kantaji (Hindu) Temple and the Paharpur Buddhist Monastery, replacing the mosque imagery from earlier notes. They called this a perceived affront to the religious sentiments of the Muslim majority and asserted that it “neglects the sentiments of the 92% of the country’s population” and could harm national unity. On February 28, 2025, after Jumma (Friday) prayers, members of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), HeI, and the Tawhidi Janata gathered in front of the Upazila Thana Patak (District Council Market) in Mymensingh District, to protest against a suspected anti-Muhammad Facebook post made by a Hindu man, Supta Saha.
Further, various terrorist organisations with a strict anti-secular outlook, are gaining muscle by the day, an alarming sign not only for the minorities but also for the future of Bangladesh. From October 24, 2025, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) conducted a 10-day training camp at Baitul Uloom Qawmi Madrasa in the Jhenaidaha District. During the programme, participants were trained to secure communications on social media, handling of small arms, manufacturing of IEDs/cocktail bombs and unarmed combat. On October 10, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) organized a 30-day training camp at a madrassa located at the Gulshakhali Jamiah As Salafiah Complex in Rangamati District, aimed at training cadres in the manufacture of small arms, guerrilla tactics, and enhancing operational capability. On June 9, Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) Central Member and Kurigram District General Secretary Mohammad Ruhul Amin Farooqi presided over a meeting in the Beparir Char area of Kurigram District to discuss the recruitment of female members and impart physical and arms training to new recruits, to facilitate cadres in evading arrest.
The oppression of religious minorities in Bangladesh remains ingrained amid political volatility, weak law enforcement and an environment of impunity. Minorities remain exposed to violence, coercion and attacks, trapped in a cycle of fear and vulnerability. Insufficient deterrence and delayed accountability encourage radical actors, guaranteeing that communal violence remains a recurring and destabilising feature of the country’s internal order.
