Hindus attacked by Muslim mob for conducting a music concert in Bangladesh

Case ID : 5954bbf | Location : Mymensingh District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sun, 5 January, 2025
Case ID : 5954bbf
location Mymensingh District, Bangladesh
date 5 January, 2025
Hindus attacked by Muslim mob for conducting a music concert in Bangladesh
Attack not resulting in death
Attacked for Hindu identity
Restriction/ban on Hindu practices
Restriction on expression of Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Maymensingh district of Bangladesh, Islamists attacked Hindus for organising a Baul music concert calling it Haram. Baul is a type of folk music which is an amalgamation of Vaishnava Bhakti tradition and Sufism of Bengal. The Hindu organisers and singers were severely beaten by Islamists and chairs and musical instruments were broken. Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Bangladesh has plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. The Islamist mobs have attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples have been destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Further, the arrest of Hindu priests has exacerbated the situation with Hindu minorities protesting across Bangladesh seeking justice.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories, the first being- Attack not resulting in death. Under 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 category under which this case has been placed is- Restriction/ban on Hindu practices. Within this, the sub-category chosen is- Restriction on expression of Hindu identity. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. The attack by Islamists on Hindus for organising a Baul music concert, labelled as "Haram," highlights the religious intolerance toward Hindu cultural expressions. Baul music is a significant cultural and spiritual practice for Hindus in Bengal. The violent disruption of this event, including the assault on Hindu organisers and singers, as well as the destruction of chairs and musical instruments, reveals an explicit intent to suppress Hindu traditions and expressions of faith. This sort of unprovoked attack on Hindus reflects the bias and prejudice Islamists harbour for Hindus and their religious beliefs. It is an attempt to intimidate and punish the Hindus for their religious expression. Such actions stem from an intrinsic animosity for Hindus and their beliefs and this is why, this case has been categorised as a hate crime and included in the tracker.

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Case Status


Unknown

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


Unknown

Perpetrators Gender


unknown

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