49 Hindu teachers forced to resign by mobs of Islamic factions amid ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh

Case ID : 04aedcb | Location : Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sun, 4 August, 2024

Case ID : 04aedcb

Bangladesh

4 August, 2024

49 Hindu teachers forced to resign by mobs of Islamic factions amid ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

On August 5 2024, Bangladesh plunged into chaos when a coup successfully ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This upheaval created a power vacuum that allowed Islamist groups to escalate their violence against the Hindu community, leading to systematic persecution marked by numerous deaths, rapes, and the destruction of Hindu homes, shops, and temples. Minority Hindus faced daily harassment, and many Hindu intellectuals and professionals were targeted and forced to resign from their positions. Reports indicate that as many as 60 teachers, professors, and government officials who are Hindus were compelled to resign from their roles in various educational institutions across Bangladesh. Extremist groups gheraoed and manhandled the teachers, coercing them to sign blank resignation papers. Prominent incidents include the case of Gautam Chandra Pal, a Chemistry teacher at Azimpur Government College, who was recognised as the best teacher but was forced to resign under pressure from Muslim students. Similarly, Sonali Rani Das, an Assistant Professor at Holi Red Crescent Nursing College in Dhaka, was also forced to resign amid harassment. One particularly distressing account came from a 55-year-old Hindu teacher who tearfully recounted how her Muslim students physically locked her in her office and demanded her resignation. She described the traumatic experience of having to jump out of a window to escape, highlighting the betrayal she felt from students she had once nurtured, who now labelled her as "Kafir" and "Malaun." On August 14, another incident involved Soumitra Sekhar, Vice Chancellor of Kazi Nazrul Islam University, who was also coerced into resigning by radicalised students. On August 18, Khuku Rani Biswas, in charge of Jessore Nursing Institute, was besieged in her office for five hours by radical students demanding her resignation. Other educators, such as Mihir Ranjan Halder, Vice Chancellor of Khulna Engineering and Technology University, and Ratan Kumar Majumdar, principal of Puranbazar Degree College in Chandpur, also faced similar fates. The situation in Bangladesh escalated to the point where the daughter of well-known singer Subir Nandi was harassed by peers who told her to "go to Bharat." Shukla Rani Halder, the principal of Bakerganj Government College, was forced to resign following an aggressive protest by a mob of students and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists on August 29. The mob besieged her office for several hours, during which they coerced her into resigning. Images of her distress circulated on social media. Halder, an officer of the 14th BCS education cadre who became principal in mid-2022 after serving as an English professor, was accused by the protesters, largely identified as BNP activists, of financial corruption, irregular attendance, and other misconduct without any substantial evidence. On August 31, the student wing of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad – Bangladesh Chhatra Oikya Parishad – revealed that at least 49 teachers belonging to minority communities were forced to resign across the country after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. Notably, after facing backlash, the interim government reinstated 19 forced resignations.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the hate tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death and within this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity- In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second prime category selected here is- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category chosen is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith- Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The ousting of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, triggered a wave of violence and persecution specifically targeting the Hindu minority. This report reveals how, besides the unabated attacks on Hindus, resulting in widespread deaths, rapes, and the destruction of homes, shops, and temples, Islamists in Bangladesh also systematically marginalised them in educational institutions and professional settings. Hindu intellectuals, professors, and government officials were singled out and coerced into resigning from their positions. Instances like the harassment and forced resignation of Hindu teachers such as Gautam Chandra Pal and Sonali Rani Das exemplify how religious prejudice fueled these acts. These educators were cornered, physically assaulted, and labelled derogatory terms such as "Kafir" and "Malaun," which further highlights the religious animosity driving the persecution. The harrowing account of a Hindu teacher locked in her office and forced to jump out of a window to escape, as well as the resignation of multiple prominent Hindu figures under duress, demonstrates how deep-rooted religious hatred permeated the violence. This systematic targeting of Hindus, underscores the calculated nature of the persecution, revealing it as a hate crime fueled by animosity toward the Hindu community. The fact that Islamists specifically singled out intellectuals, educators, and professionals—figures typically regarded as symbols of knowledge and progress—solely for being Hindus underscores the depth of their hatred. By forcing resignations, subjecting them to harassment, and even physical assaults, these actions demonstrate that the anti-Hindu sentiment went beyond mere physical violence, extending into the deliberate, systematic exclusion of Hindus from key societal roles. This persecution reflects a profound level of animosity and intolerance within Islamist factions in Bangladesh, who viewed the mere presence of Hindus as a threat that needed to be eradicated. Since disrespect for Hindus and their religion is the primary purpose behind this incident, this case has been added to the tracker.