Bangladesh: Protection of Hindus and
others must be ensured amid ongoing violence

Bangladesh: Protection of
Hindus and others must be
ensured amid ongoing
violence
Responding to the violent
attacks on Hindu minority
households and temples in
Bangladesh during and after
the Durga Puja, the country’s
biggest Hindu festival,
Amnesty International’s
South Asia Campaigner, Saad
Hammadi, said:
“Reports of a spate of attacks
by angry mobs against
members of the Hindu
community, their homes,
temples and puja pandals
during the country’s biggest
Hindu festival are
symptomatic of the growing
anti-minority sentiment in the
country. Such repeated
attacks against individuals,
communal violence, and
destruction of the homes and
places of worship of
minorities in Bangladesh over
the years show that the state
has failed in its duty to protect
minorities.
“Targeting religious
sensitivities to stoke
communal tension is a serious
human rights violation and
requires immediate and
decisive action from the
government to address the
situation of minorities in the
country.
“We urge the authorities to
take urgent steps to protect the
members of the minority
community against such
attacks and ensure access to
justice and effective remedies
for victims. The authorities must promptly, thoroughly, impartially and
transparently investigate the incidents and bring those suspected to be
responsible for the violence and vandalism to account through fair trials.”
Background
Violence erupted in Bangladesh following allegations on social media that
a copy of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, was desecrated at a puja
pandal (temporary structures made for the religious ceremony) in Cumilla
on 13 October 2021. At least seven people have been killed, and hundreds
have been injured in clashes that broke out across Bangladesh since 13
October.
According to local reports, at least 25 houses and shops belonging to
members of the Hindu community were torched in Rangpur, a northern
district of Bangladesh on 17 October. The country’s information minister
Hasan Mahmud warned about further attacks.
Teachers and staff from Dhaka University have today blocked a major
intersection in the city in protest against the ongoing violence. The police
have filed at least 46 cases against 10,000 unidentified people for the
violence and vandalism across the country.
Authorities had filed eight cases accusing thousands of people when
hundreds of homes, businesses and temples belonging to Hindu families
were set on fire in Nasirnagar in 2016 based on social media posts that
alleged insult to Islam. In 2012, at least six Buddhist temples and several
homes were torched apparently over a Facebook post allegedly defaming
the Quran.