Iskcon devotees threatened and their event disrupted by Muslims in Bangladesh
Comilla District, Bangladesh 
6 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Bangladesh's Comilla city, an inauguration event of an Iskcon temple was forcibly shut down by Muslims. They even threatened the devotees that they would wipe out the existence of Iskcon from Bangladesh. 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 two primary categories. The first primary category this case is being added to is 'Restriction/Ban on Hindu practices' under the sub-category '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. In this case, a mob of Muslims in Islamic Bangladesh stopped Hindus from inaugurating a Hindu temple and threatened them to wipe their faith out from Bangladesh. The Muslim mob in Bangladesh, which is an Islamic country, restricted Hindus from practising their faith, given that the Muslim majority considers Hindus and Hinduism itself antithetical to Islam. The second primary category this case is being added to is 'Attack on Hindu religious representations'. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. On August 5th, Bangladesh plunged into chaos after a successful coup ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, forcing her to flee the country as an enraged mob approached her residence. In the wake of the coup, Islamists exploited the unrest to launch violent attacks on the Hindu community, leading to numerous deaths, rapes, and the destruction of Hindu homes, shops, and temples, many of which were set on fire. The persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh has been ongoing by the Muslim population of the country and the state itself. The mobs have been, in fact, protected and empowered by the interim government of Pakistan. The attack on Iskcon temple was a part of the ongoing Hindu persecution in the country, denying Hindus their right to worship and their religious identity.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
