Muslims threaten to slaughter 100 cows on the Hindu religious event of Pohela Boishakh in Bangladesh
Dhaka, Dhaka District, Bangladesh 
17 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Bangladesh, Muslims threatened to slaughter 100 cows on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh to hurt Hindu sentiments, despite knowing that cows are sacred in Hinduism. Pohela Boishakh is celebrated as the Bengali New Year. It marks the arrival of spring and the abundance of the harvest season. A grand event was organised every year under the Ramna Batamul Banyan tree, located inside the Ramna Park in Dhaka. This event was first organised by Chhayanaut Sangeet Vidyatan in 1961 to promote Bengali culture. Obviously, intending to hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community, the Islamists in Bangladesh took to social media and threatened to kill 100 cows on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh. When asked about the same, the advisor of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs- Mostofa Sarwar Farooqi brushed off the threats and said, “Many people say many things on social media…We cannot respond to everything said there as government authorities. Pohela Boishakh is a big festival. It will be observed in the same manner it has been celebrated all these years. I can say that.” 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. Amidst the ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities, this threat—deliberately issued to harm Hindu religious sentiments—stands as a stark reminder of their growing vulnerability in the face of escalating hostility within the Islamic state of Bangladesh.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Due to the clear presence of stark religious markers, this case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Hate speech against Hindus. Within this, the first prime category selected is- Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. The second sub-category selected here 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 out of 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. This incident of threats to slaughter 100 cows on Pohela Boishakh in Bangladesh is a glaring example of religiously motivated hate against Hindus, aimed at deliberately mocking and hurting their sentiments. This is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of hostility that has escalated since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024. The targeting of Hindu religious beliefs through violent threats, intimidation, and systematic harassment highlights the deep-seated animosity against Hindus in Bangladesh, justifying its inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker. Following Hasina’s ouster, violence against Hindu minorities has surged. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported 2,010 incidents of targeted violence between August 4 and August 20. However, given the history of underreporting, the actual number of hate crimes would be much higher. Radical Islamist groups like Tawhidi Janata, active since at least 2013, have been emboldened in this volatile environment, carrying out acts of vandalism and issuing violent threats. On the eve of Valentine’s Day, these groups openly called for attacks on couples displaying affection in public, forcing local businesses like Nirbili Food Corner to shut down out of fear. Their intimidation led to the postponement of a scheduled Spring Festival in Bhuapur on February 15, further proving their ability to suppress cultural and religious expression through coercion. The threat to slaughter cows, a sacred animal in Hinduism, on the revered Hindu festival of Pohela Boishakh is an extension of this anti-Hindu agenda. It was not merely an expression of religious differences but a calculated attempt to insult Hindu beliefs, create an atmosphere of fear, and establish religious dominance. Despite these blatant threats, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs advisor, Mostofa Sarwar Farooqi, downplayed the matter, refusing to take action and dismissing it as “just social media talk.” This apathy from state authorities enables the persecution of Hindus, making them even more vulnerable to systematic targeting. Given these recurring patterns of violent threats and religious mockery, the case warrants inclusion in the tracker as a hate crime against Hindus. The incident not only reflects the growing intolerance towards Hindu traditions in Bangladesh but also underscores the broader objective of Islamist groups to intimidate, suppress, and ultimately diminish Hindu cultural and religious identity in the country.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
