On November 4, 2026, a 50-year-old man, Zahed Bepari, was hacked to death inside a Sufi Shrine in the Charkewar Union of the Munshiganj Sadar Upazila (Sub-District) in Munshiganj District.
On October 27, 2026, a Hindu barber, Rabindra Monirishi (43), was stabbed to death in the Noman Gate area of Jamirdia in the Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh District.
On October 26, 2026, three homes belonging to Hindu families were vandalised and looted in the Pirganj Upazila of Rangpur District over a Facebook post that purportedly hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. The owners of the affected houses are Bishu Chandra Mohanta, 50; his elder brother Jagadish Chandra Mohanta, 60; and their younger brother Dinesh Chandra Mohanta, 46, all residents of Chak Karimpur Village. According to the Police, Bishu’s son, Saurav Chandra Mohanta, 22, who works at a garment factory in Gazipur, shared a video on Facebook several months ago, which allegedly hurt Muslim religious sentiments.
On October 25, 2026, a Hindu school teacher named Monoranjan Roy (55) was beaten to death while trying to resolve a dispute at a friend’s house in the Parbatipur Upazila of Dinajpur District.
On October 21, 2026, a domestic Baul song festival – scheduled for October 22, 2026 – was not allowed to be held, in Hatia Village of the Kulonj Union in the Dirai Upazila of Sunamganj District. Radicals raised objections that ‘obscenity’ could occur in the name of songs.
On October 19, 2026, Police recovered and defused an improvised explosive device (IED) from the premises of the Fakir Lalon Shah Shrine in the Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia District.
On October 11, 2026, a theft took place at the Hindu Radhamadhav Akhra Central Temple in the Akhaura Upazila of Brahmanbaria District. Unidentified miscreants broke into the temple, cutting the grill, and stole six idols as well as gold and silver ornaments.
On October 8, 2026, the Hindu Khayerchara Matri Temple in Ward No. 9 of the Kumarkhali Municipality in Kushtia District was vandalised. Artisans found the heads of the Ganesh and Lakshmi idols and some parts of Durga’s vehicle – the lion – broken. Police stated that the incident was being investigated in light of a dispute over the temple committee and a land dispute.
On October 6, 2026, Police recovered the burnt body of a Hindu businessman, Suprabhat Modak, from a turmeric field in Ward No. 6 of the Ahmedpur Union under the Aminpur Police Station in the Bera Upazila of Pabna District, a day after he went missing.
Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) data indicates that attacks and incidents affecting religious minorities increased in 2026, suggesting a deterioration in security. HRSS’ annual reports recorded 12 temples and 16 houses partially or fully destroyed, with 48 minority individuals injured in 28 incidents in 2022. In 2023, HRSS documented 27 attacks on minorities, 43 persons injured, damage to 17 temples and 31 idols, and attacks on 25 houses. Its 2024 report recorded 112 incidents targeting minority communities, with two people killed and 83 injured, alongside damage to 28 temples, 31 idols, 284 homes and 240 shops and business establishments. In 2025, HRSS reported 28 incidents involving religious and ethnic minorities, one death and 16 persons injured, while more than 56 shrines were reportedly attacked, vandalised or looted. The trend worsened in the first half of 2026: HRSS documented 50 attacks on religious minorities, compared with 10 during the corresponding period in 2025; persons injured increased from four to 56. The recent HRSS report covering July to September 2026, documented at least six attacks on minority communities, leaving six people injured, while two temples, five idols and four homes were vandalised.
Attacks on minorities surged during the political transition of 2024, blurring the distinction between communal violence and political retaliation. Following former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure, attacks on minority homes, businesses and places of worship generated widespread concern, particularly because Hindus had often been perceived as politically aligned with the Awami League. On August 8, 2024, Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director, Human Rights Watch (HRW), stated,
Rioters burned down historical structures and targeted members of Hasina’s Awami League party. In several districts around the country, members of the Hindu community, which is generally considered to have largely backed the Awami League, were violently attacked, their homes torched, temples vandalised, and shops looted. There were also reports of attacks against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and ethnic minorities.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in its annual report, 2026, noted
Bangladesh was the site of several concerning blasphemy cases in 2025. In February, authorities arrested poet Sohel Hasan Galib for “hurting religious sentiment.” Police arrested a Hindu man the following month for allegedly insulting the Prophet, leading to his conviction and sentencing to an indeterminate length of time in prison. Authorities arrested a university student in October on charges of desecrating a Qur’an; a mob surrounded his home after videos circulated on social media accusing him of the act. In November, police arrested a Baul singer on allegations of blasphemy and hurting religious sentiment during a musical performance. In December, a mob in Dhaka, Bangladesh, lynched a Hindu man, tied his body to a tree, and set it on fire following rumours he made blasphemous comments insulting the Prophet Muhammed.
On January 19, 2026, a Facebook post by the Chief Adviser’s Office stated that investigations identified 645 incidents involving minorities in 2025, but classified only 71 as communal, labelling the remaining 574 as non-communal. However, on January 28, 2026, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) challenged this classification, reporting 522 incidents of communal violence in 2025. This divergence between the figures published by the BHBCUC and those released by the Interim Government reflects a deeper lack of trust between minority rights organisations and state authorities over the assessment of communal violence. BHBCUC Acting General Secretary Monindra Kumar Nath observed, “The official definition of communal violence appears to exclude killings, rapes, arson attacks on homes, land grabbing and targeted assaults unless they occur inside temple premises.” Nath, however, added, “We still place our hope in the Election Commission and the government… but past experience has repeatedly disappointed us.”
In one of the major incidents this year, on August 22, 2026, a Hindu family of four, including retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, 65; his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty, 50; their daughter, Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 23; and their son, Priyam Chakraborty, 12, were found murdered in their home in the Daspara area of Rangpur District. Police initially indicated that robbery might have been involved, but on August 26, 2026, Bangladesh National Hindu Mahajot Secretary General Govinda Chandra Pramanik alleged that the high-ranking figures in the administration were trying to cover up the killings in Rangpur by blaming the Hindu community for the incident.
On October 10, 2026, Police detained four persons identified as ANM Ayas (29), President of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum; Mohammad Sakibul Hasan (19); Mohammad Sujon Mia (18); and Marzia Khandaker Rimi (27), while they were attempting to smear black ink on a graffiti portrait of Rabindranath Tagore on a pavement wall in front of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at Segunbagicha in Dhaka. Rimi asserted, “We have come to protest against Indian aggression.” This incident may not directly constitute an attack on religious minorities. However, according to the case documents, the case was filed under sections 120B, 153A and 295A of the Penal Code, relating to criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between classes and inciting religious hatred. Further, the Police forwarding report submitted to the court noted,
On October 9, Ayas announced that he would erase the mural on the boundary wall by whitewashing it… The next day, Ayas and the other accused went to the spot. Accused Rimi smeared black ink over the mural depicting Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath. She also attempted to incite religious hatred in connection with the upcoming Durga Puja, thereby creating discord and undermining communal harmony.
On October 15, 2026, the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad reported 34 incidents of idol vandalism, attacks on temples and related violence ahead of Durga Puja, adding that arrests had been made in 11 of the cases. Santosh Sharma, General Secretary of the Parishad, noted, “Security cannot be a concern for only the five days of Puja. We must ensure security for all 365 days of the year.”
The insecurity faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh cannot be attributed to a single cause, but rather to overlapping dynamics of political instability, religious intolerance, competing narratives of national identity, local disputes and weaknesses in law enforcement, specifically after the July 2024 uprising. The fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024 created a period of political uncertainty and a vacuum in which attacks on minority communities became a prominent concern. The uprising complicated the situation of minority communities, as they were linked to Awami League politics, leading to questions of national loyalty. The ambiguity highlighted in the data on attacks on minority communities adds to the insecurity of the minority community. Current trends underscore both the continuing vulnerability of these communities and the need for effective protection and accountability from the administration and law enforcement agencies.
