Hindus in Bangladesh continue to be exposed to danger, with Sheikh Hasina securing her Prime Ministership for the fourth time. Not that life would have been any better for the religious minorities had Hasina’s political opponents won the 2024 general elections, either. While Hasina is said to be the flag-bearer of secularism in the Islamic state, she has only proven to be the lesser evil, and has failed miserably in offering any assurance of safety to the Hindus.
Claims that her failure is a result of her indifference or lack of will to support the religious minority are not incorrect. The post-poll violence against Hindus by Muslim fanatics who support the winning party was an appalling replica of the 2022 post-poll violence on the Hindus of West Bengal, an Indian state that shares borders with Bangladesh and is plagued with illegal Bangladeshi migrants, who are altering the local demography. It started with the victory of the Awami League in January 2024 and only gained momentum through February, resulting in more plundered Hindu temples and attacked festivities.
A Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Kali in the Raypur Municipal area of the Laxmipur district in Chittagong was vandalized in the last week of January. The idol was struck, and everything that was kept in the temple was shattered. Things that couldn’t be broken were scattered outside the temple. Locals report state that even a furnace that used to cremate dead bodies was torn down. Though the police were called to the site and a complaint was registered, no one has been arrested or identified, according to the latest available reports.
The Sri Radha Govinda ISKCON temple at Shobharampur in Faridpur district became the next target of the Muslim mob. The temple was attacked merely a week after the attack on the Laxmipur Kali temple. A man wearing an Islamic kufi and beard stormed onto the temple premises and started hurling unutterable expletives at the devotees who were present there. He then grabbed a stick from the temple’s garden and started running in a frenzy to vandalize the complex. One of the first things he took down was an idol of the Hindu goddess Saraswati that had been placed outside the main temple. As he charged towards the main temple, the devotees came together, caught him and tied him to a tree. They then informed the police. As the accused was caught red-handed, the police were compelled to make an arrest and initiate a course of action, which doesn’t happen in most cases of a Muslim attacking Hindu people and property, as in the case of the attack on the Saraswati Puja Pavilion on Wednesday, February 14, at Brahmanbaria town.
On February 14, the Hindu community worldwide celebrated Saraswati Puja, a festival dedicated to the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. These celebrations are mostly held in temporary makeshift pavilions, where devotees gather for the prayer meeting. The Hindus of Bangladesh also celebrate the occasion within their limited means. A pavilion was set up in the Paikpara area of Brahmanbaria town. But “unknown” miscreants attacked this pavilion on the night of February 14, and ravaged everything. The idol of the goddess was beheaded in true ISIS style. Locals found the headless idol lying on the road at daybreak. While a formal complaint has been lodged with the local police, no arrests have yet been made. The beheading of the idol of their goddess translates as an open threat to the marginalized community, but the administration remains indifferent towards such violence.
The prolonged inaction of the authorities encouraged the audacity of some of the Muslims to dangerous degrees. Having finished vandalizing temples and beheading idols, these zealots have now begun targeting priests and women. Though abducting and gang-raping Hindu girls was never a foreign concept in Bangladesh, it did come as a surprise when the target shifted to a septuagenarian. 70-year-old Ashalata Biswas, also known as Hasi, was allegedly gang-raped and killed in Gopalgunj district. The victim was staying at an ashram named Biswabandhu Swashram Mandir, located in Malipata village under the Durgapur union of the Gopalgunj district.
On March 3, locals saw that the door to her room was broken. When they rushed inside, they found Ashalata lying on the floor; her hands were tied, her mouth was muzzled with cloth, and marks of torture were evident on her body. She was lying in a pool of blood. It was clear that she had been raped, said the locals. The donation boxes of the temple were also broken.
Subsequently, the police were informed, arrived, surveyed the surroundings, and registered a complaint. No arrests have yet been made. Investigations are underway.