Durga Puja mandap vandalised, idols of Hindu deities desecrated by Muslim man in Sylhet, Bangladesh
Sylhet District, Bangladesh 
18 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Sylhet, Bangladesh, a Durga Puja mandap was vandalised, and idols of Hindu deities were desecrated by a 29-year-old Muslim man named Syed Uzman Shimul. The incident occurred between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm on 19 September 2026, just weeks before the commencement of the Durga Puja festival. Shimul entered the Balaganj West Bazar Nabinnagar Sarbojanin Puja Mandap under Balaganj Sadar Union armed with a boti, a traditional cutting tool, and damaged several idols of Hindu deities. According to Sudip Pal, general secretary of the Puja committee, Shimul repeatedly struck different parts of the idols of Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati and Lord Kartikeya with the boti. Members of the Puja committee reached the spot after receiving information about the incident and informed the police. Balaganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Abdul Latif Tarfadar said that police detained Shimul following the incident and recovered the boti from his possession. Police further stated that information obtained during questioning indicated his involvement in the vandalism. A case was filed against Shimul under provisions relating to hurting religious sentiments and vandalising religious idols. The case was filed by Lal Mohan Das Nantu, president of the temple committee. Shimul was formally shown as arrested on 20 September 2026, produced before a court and subsequently sent to judicial custody. This incident occurred against the broader backdrop of the historical persecution faced by Hindus in Bangladesh. While the Hindu minority has endured discrimination, targeted violence, and religious hostility over decades, such persecution has intensified in distinct spurts during periods of political and social instability. The latest major escalation began and continued after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, followed by another surge after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi in December 2025, and subsequently in the immediate aftermath of the 13th National Parliamentary Election in 2026. Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, multiple incidents involving attacks on Hindu homes, temples and religious institutions were documented, alongside intimidation, arson and mob violence targeting Hindu localities. The Hinduphobia Tracker recorded 336 incidents involving the Hindu minority during this period, reflecting the scale of the escalation and the continuing vulnerability of Hindus in Bangladesh. A further spurt of violence followed the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric, in December 2025. In the aftermath, Hindu communities were subjected to retaliatory violence, with Hindu homes and properties selectively attacked and several families forced to flee. Among the victims was Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched and whose body was subsequently 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, further illustrating how existing hostility towards the Hindu minority intensified during moments of communal mobilisation. During the same period, posters and written material calling for the extermination of Hindus were also displayed in public spaces. Such rhetoric, when viewed alongside incidents of arson, vandalism, assault and targeted intimidation, reflected an environment in which hostility towards Hindus was not merely episodic but repeatedly resurfaced in more intense forms during periods of unrest. The most recent escalation followed the 13th National Parliamentary Election in 2026. In the immediate aftermath of the election results, Hindu families in districts including Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon and Dinajpur faced attacks involving arson, looting, assault and vandalism of Hindu homes and temples. In several instances, Hindu properties were selectively targeted, and families were threatened with displacement. The present incident therefore occurred within a much longer history of persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, where hostility towards the community has persisted over time and intensified in repeated spurts. The latest cycle began after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina and continued through subsequent periods of political and communal upheaval, leaving the Hindu minority increasingly vulnerable to targeted violence, intimidation and religious hostility.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The sub-category selected is: Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The other subcategory selected here is: Violence against religious structures or centres. In Hinduism, a religious structure is also considered divine. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the religious structure itself is sacred. In this sub-category, we would document attacks against religious structures which are not consecrated temple spaces. Such religious spaces could be temporary in nature – for example – the religious spaces erected specifically for festivals like Durga Puja etc. This category would also document cases of attacks against religious centres. These spaces in their own right may not be ‘sacred’ per se, however, are often spaces where religious gurus live, religious teaching is imparted, or belong to religious institutions. Any attack against religious structures is a result of animosity towards the religion itself, which manifests itself through the religious spaces and therefore, such attacks are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Religious centres are also manifestations of the religion, its teachings or gurus and therefore, attacks against such centres would be considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case constituted a clear instance of religiously driven hate crime, as the Muslim perpetrator targeted a sacred Durga Puja mandap and deliberately damaged idols of Hindu deities. The attack was carried out in Bangladesh just weeks before the commencement of the Durga Puja festival, further highlighting the religious nature of the targeting. Durga Puja is one of the most significant Hindu festivals, centred on the worship of Goddess Durga and commemorating her victory over the demon Mahishasura, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. The festival is marked by elaborate rituals, prayers and the installation of idols of Goddess Durga alongside Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya. The idols are not merely decorative objects but form the focal point of worship and devotional observance during the festival. Preparations for Durga Puja involve the creation and installation of these idols in specially constructed puja spaces called pandals or mandaps, where devotees gather to offer prayers and participate in religious rituals. Hindu idols more broadly serve as sacred representations through which devotees engage in worship and express their reverence towards the deities they represent. Therefore, repeatedly striking the idols of Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati and Lord Kartikeya with a cutting tool amounted to a deliberate desecration of sacred Hindu representations. By deliberately damaging objects being prepared for worship, the perpetrator showed disregard for their religious sanctity and directly hurt the religious sentiments of Hindu devotees. The targeting and destruction of these revered representations demonstrated hostility towards Hindu religious beliefs and symbols, making the act a clear instance of a religiously driven hate crime. The fact that the incident occurred inside a Durga Puja mandap further demonstrated the religious nature of the attack. A Durga Puja mandap (pandal) is a specially constructed pavilion in which the idols of the deities are installed and where devotees gather for prayers and religious observances during the festival. Such pandals are central to the public practice of Durga Puja, with the festival revolving around worship, rituals and devotional gatherings centred on the installed idols. In this case, the perpetrator did not merely damage an ordinary structure but vandalised the very space prepared for the worship of Hindu deities while simultaneously desecrating the sacred idols installed within it. The targeting of both the religious structure and the objects of worship represented an affront to the religious practices and sentiments of the Hindu community and demonstrated the depth of the hostility directed towards Hindu religious observance. The timing of the incident further reinforced its religious context. The attack took place just weeks before the commencement of the Durga Puja festival, when preparations for the festival and the creation of its idols were underway. The fact that the idols being prepared for the festival were specifically targeted and damaged at this time added a significant religious dimension to the offence. The timing, combined with the deliberate targeting of the idols and the Durga Puja mandap, demonstrated that the incident directly interfered with preparations for an important Hindu religious celebration and caused damage to objects intended for worship. These circumstances provided further evidence of religious hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community and supported its classification as a religiously driven hate crime. The incident occurred shortly after a broader pattern of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh following the ousting and exile of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, during which Hindu temples, idols, homes and other religious and community properties were targeted and vandalised. The occurrence of another deliberate attack on a Hindu religious site shortly after this broader pattern of violence underscored the continued targeting of the Hindu minority and their religious institutions in Bangladesh. It further highlighted the persistence of hostility towards Hinduism and the vulnerability of Hindu religious spaces to targeted attacks. Notably, this was not an isolated incident. In 2025, a year before this incident, the Hinduphobia Tracker documented 42 separate incidents targeting Durga Puja celebrations across the world. The recurrence of attacks targeting an important Hindu festival demonstrates a broader pattern of hostility towards Hindu religious observances, rather than a one-off incident, and highlights the repeated targeting of Hindu festivals and their associated religious spaces and symbols. Given that this case met several parameters of a religiously driven offence, it was added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
