Hindu teenager Utsab Mandal brutally assaulted by mob in Bangladesh's police station over 'blasphemy' allegations

Case ID : 04aeed2 | Location : Khulna District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 2 September, 2024

Case ID : 04aeed2

Khulna District, Bangladesh

2 September, 2024

Hindu teenager Utsab Mandal brutally assaulted by mob in Bangladesh's police station over 'blasphemy' allegations

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked over 'Blasphemy'

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

On September 4, 2024, Utsab Mandal, a Hindu teenager in Khulna, Bangladesh, became the target of a brutal mob attack after being accused of blasphemy. The incident began during a Facebook Live session on September 3, when Utsab allegedly made derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad during a Bangladesh-Pakistan cricket match. Accusations quickly spread that the 15-year-old had used offensive language toward the Prophet. Utsab, a student at Azam Khan Government Commerce College, was also accused of posting similar remarks in the comments of his live video. The following day, a group of students from his college dragged Utsab to the Khulna Metropolitan Police office, demanding action. The news of the alleged blasphemy spread rapidly, and by 8 PM, a mob of 3,000-5,000 people gathered outside the police station, calling for Utsab to be handed over to them for punishment. Despite being in police custody, the situation escalated, and the angry mob broke into the police station and violently assaulted Utsab. To calm the mob, announcements were made from local mosques falsely claiming that Utsab had died. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) however, issued a statement confirming that he was seriously injured yet alive and receiving medical treatment under army supervision. It is pertinent to note that the attack on the Hindu boy by a mob of 3000-5000 Muslims took place while the Bangladesh security personnel stood and watched as bystanders, making no attempt to save the Hindu boy. In videos that had gone viral, the Hindu boy had said that he had only responded to the insults being hurled at Hindus and Hindus by Muslims during a cricket match he had gone to watch. Pertinently, this attack came amidst the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Muslim majority Bangladesh after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. The day after the assault, on September 5, a case was officially filed against Utsab under Bangladesh's Cyber Security Act, which replaced the earlier Digital Security Act. Nasir Uddin, a 42-year-old man, lodged the complaint, accusing Utsab of "hurting religious sentiments" and disturbing communal harmony. Notably, Utsab will be prosecuted as a 19-year-old despite his official age being 15, as police claim that his birth certificate and other documents are inaccurate. The case sparked widespread outrage and raised concerns over the protection of minorities and the misuse of blasphemy laws in Bangladesh.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case from Bangladesh during the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus in the Muslim-majority country is being added to the primary category 'attack not resulting in death'. Multiple sub categories have been chosen for this case. The first sub-category is 'attacked over blasphemy'. Blasphemy essentially refers to the desecration of anything which is held sacred/holy to a group of people. However, for religious supremacist groups, the elements of ‘blasphemy’ are ever-changing, shifting and expanding – leading to infringement on the rights of other religious groups, freedom of speech and expression, threats and even physical violence. There are instances where blasphemy is also used as a dog whistle to target Hindus owing to intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. There are several instances where stating truths as mentioned in the non-Hindu doctrine itself has led to unmitigated violence against Hindus. There have also been instances where non-Hindus have themselves created a ‘blasphemous’ situation, like placing a Quran in a temple, to use it as an excuse to attack Hindus. Essentially, Blasphemy charges are often made up and/or are used to shut down any form of criticism of non-Hindu faiths and as a tool to target Hindus. Any physical violence over Blasphemy charges against Hindus are foundationally based on animosity for Hindus and their faith owing to religious supremacist ideologies, therefore, such attacks would be documented as religious motivated hate crimes under this category. In this case, the teenager was almost lynched by a mob of 3000-5000 Muslims, while the security personnel watched and laughed after allegations were made that the Hindu boy had used "derogatory language" for Prophet Mohammad. Pertinently, the Hindu boy, pleading for his life, had said that he had only responded to Muslims insulting Hindus and Hinduism. It has often been seen that allegations of Blasphemy are made only to be used as a ruse for the Muslim mob to attack Hindus. In Bangladesh itself, there have been instances where a Muslim placed a Quran at the feet of Maa Durga just so the Hindus of the area could be attacked. Here, the Hindu boy was only responding to Muslims insulting Hindus and their faith during the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh. Thereafter, the Muslims used his response to attempt to lynch him for blasphemy. Such attacks are driven purely by religious animosity towards Hindus, also evidenced by the fact that he was called a "Kafir" and "Nastik" while there were attempts to lynch him. The second sub-category this case is being added to 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 third category is 'attacked for opposing radicals'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. In this case, the Hindu teenager was attacked because being a Hindu, he defended his faith when the Muslim mob was insulting Hinduism and Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to this sub-category as well.