Hindu faith mocked as Muslim man urges his followers on social media to urinate on idol of revered Lord Ram
Rangpur, Rangpur District, Bangladesh 
10 June, 2026
Case Summary
A Muslim man identified as Mohammad Ataur, who has been described on social media as being linked to the banned terrorist organisation Al Qaeda, launched an online campaign calling on fellow Muslims to desecrate an idol of Lord Ram by urinating on it at the Sanatan Complex in Palashbari, Bangladesh. The campaign specifically targeted both a revered Hindu deity and a prominent Hindu religious site, triggering outrage among members of the Hindu community. The incident came to light after social media users circulated screenshots of Ataur's posts. In these posts, he openly urged Muslims to gather at the Sanatan Complex in Rangpur and urinate on the idol of Lord Ram. The call was not framed as criticism of Hindu beliefs or practices but as a direct appeal to physically desecrate a sacred Hindu religious symbol. The campaign forms part of a broader and sustained hate campaign directed against the Sanatan Complex, featuring one of the country's tallest Lord Krishna idols (about 50 feet) alongside massive, under-construction statues of Lord Ram and Lord Shiva. In recent months, the Hindu religious project has been subjected to communal misinformation, inflammatory propaganda, and repeated calls for destruction by Islamist activists and preachers. Social media posts objected to the construction of the Ram idol and questioned its presence in a Muslim-majority country, while portraying the temple project as something that Muslims were religiously obligated to oppose. The rhetoric escalated beyond criticism into open demands for the demolition of the idol and the temple itself. One Islamist preacher publicly urged both the government and ordinary Muslims to ensure the idol's destruction, declaring that Muslims should demolish it themselves if the authorities failed to act. The same campaign also included anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric, with references to crushing "Modi and his Ram Rajya" and assertions that India would one day be conquered. Collectively, these statements transformed a lawful Hindu religious project into the target of a coordinated campaign of religious hostility directed at Hindu symbols, beliefs, and the Hindu community's right to practise its faith. These incidents occurred against the backdrop of a sustained wave of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh. The escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh has unfolded in three distinct phases: first, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024; second, after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi in December 2025; and third, in the immediate aftermath of the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, multiple reports documented attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and religious institutions, alongside intimidation campaigns, arson, and mob assaults targeting minority neighbourhoods. The Hinduphobia Tracker recorded 336 such incidents against the Hindu minority, underscoring the scale and persistence of anti-Hindu violence during this period. A further escalation occurred following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric. Hadi had been involved in political unrest after the fall of the Hasina government and was killed in Dhaka on 18th December 2025 during clashes. In the aftermath of his death, Hindu communities were blamed and subsequently targeted in retaliatory violence. Hindu homes were selectively set ablaze in multiple localities, forcing families to flee and leaving many displaced. The attacks appeared patterned rather than sporadic, with Muslim mobs focusing on Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols. Among the victims was Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched to death and his body was set ablaze by a Muslim mob over false blasphemy allegations. The Hinduphobia Tracker documented 51 incidents of anti-Hindu violence in the period following Hadi’s death alone. Reports further indicated that posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. The third phase of violence was unleashed after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. Within days of the announcement of results, Hindu families in districts such as Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported coordinated attacks involving arson, looting, assault, and vandalism of temples and homes. In several instances, Hindu homes were selectively targeted, looted, and families were threatened with displacement. The social media campaign calling for the desecration of the idol of Lord Ram at the Sanatan Complex in Rangpur emerged within this broader environment of hostility, where Hindu religious symbols, places of worship, and the Hindu community increasingly became targets of intimidation, hatred, and religiously motivated aggression.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category selected 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 from 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 primary religious marker in this case was the explicit call to desecrate an idol of Bhagwan Shri Ram by urinating on it. In Hinduism, deities are not viewed as symbolic figures but as sacred manifestations worthy of devotion, worship, and reverence. Bhagwan Shri Ram occupies a particularly revered position in Hindu religious life. A call to urinate on his idol was therefore not merely an offensive statement but a deliberate attempt to humiliate a sacred Hindu deity and insult the faith of the millions of Hindus who revere him. The method of desecration advocated is also significant. The objective was not to express disagreement with Hindu beliefs but to subject an object of worship to maximum humiliation. The act was designed to communicate that a symbol held sacred by Hindus deserved not respect, but public degradation. This incident cannot be viewed in isolation. It emerged against the backdrop of a sustained hate campaign targeting the Sanatan Complex and the under-construction Shri Ram idol. Islamist activists and preachers had already called for the idol's demolition, demanded the destruction of the temple, and portrayed the very existence of a prominent Hindu religious symbol as unacceptable. The call to urinate on the idol represented an escalation of the same hostility. Where earlier rhetoric sought the removal of the idol, this campaign sought its active desecration and humiliation. The target of the campaign was not a political figure, public institution, or private individual. It was a Hindu deity and a Hindu place of worship. The hostility stemmed precisely from the fact that the idol represented the Hindu faith and Hindu religious identity. The offence, therefore, cannot be separated from its religious dimension. The insult derived its impact from the sacred significance that Hindus attach to Bhagwan Shri Ram. By publicly encouraging Muslims to participate in the desecration of a revered Hindu deity, the campaign sought to normalise contempt for Hindu religious symbols and create an atmosphere of intimidation around a lawful Hindu religious project. The objective extended beyond offending individual believers. It was directed at degrading a sacred symbol central to Hindu identity and communicating hostility towards the Hindu community as a whole. For these reasons, the incident constitutes a clear manifestation of anti-Hindu hate directed at a Hindu deity, a Hindu place of worship, and the Hindu faith itself. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the Muslim perpetrators posted such offensive content. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date as the date the incident was reported in the media, 10 June 2026.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
