Hindu activist sentenced to 7 years in jail over ‘blasphemy’ case in Bangladesh, had said he was implicated for opposing forced conversion of Hindus

Case ID : 7f64ca7 | Location : Sylhet, Sylhet District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 2 January, 2023

Case ID : 7f64ca7

Sylhet, Sylhet District, Bangladesh

2 January, 2023

Hindu activist sentenced to 7 years in jail over ‘blasphemy’ case in Bangladesh, had said he was implicated for opposing forced conversion of Hindus

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked over 'Blasphemy'

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

Rakesh Roy, a Bangladeshi Hindu and the organising secretary of Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajote was sentenced to seven years in jail in Bangladesh over an alleged ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post shared in 2017. In addition to serving a prison sentence, a fine of Taka 1 Lakh has also been imposed on him. Rakesh Roy was arrested on June 7, 2017, after an Islamic extremist Fujayel Ahmed lodged a case against Roy on June 5, 2017 under section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT), 2006, which is now known as Digital Security Act, at the Zakiganj Police Station. In his complaint, Fujayel Ahmed claimed that Rakesh Roy had insulted Prophet Muhammad in a Facebook post. However, Rakesh Roy denied the allegations, saying that one Abdul Aziz was attempting to convert the Zakiganj Hindus. He objected to the action, which prompted a vested group to create a false Facebook account in his name and post offensive comments to frame him in a false case of blasphemy.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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. This case is also being added to the sub-category '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 boy attested that he was framed in a false blasphemy case. He confirmed that he was targeted for raising objections against the religious conversion of Zakiganj Hindus. As seen in many cases, the blasphemy laws are often used as a tool of oppression and violence, leading to false accusations, mob justice, and social ostracization of Hindus, especially in Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. The misuse of blasphemy laws against Hindus is often motivated by religious prejudice. Hindus are targeted because of their religious identity. Here too, a Hindu was falsely accused of blasphemy because he was raising his voice against the atrocities being committed against his fellow Hindus making it a clear act of religious intolerance and hatred, which is why this case has been included in the hate tracker.