Hindu temple and house of 22 Hindu families looted in Bangladesh
Patuakhali District, Bangladesh 
27 February, 2025
Case Summary
In the Auliapur village, under the Rangopaldi Union of Dashmina Upazila of the Patuakhali district of Bangladesh, twenty-two Hindu families and a Hindu temple were looted by armed robbers. Hindu houses were looted; even ovens and gas cylinders were looted. Additionally, the Hindu temple was also looted, and all the valuables were stolen. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the increasing vulnerability faced by Hindu minorities amidst rising hostility in the Islamic state of Bangladesh, especially since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. Taking advantage of the political turmoil, Islamists have unleashed a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community in Bangladesh. 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 and seeking justice.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- 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 relevant here is- Attack on Hindu religious representations, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Attack on Temples. 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. The removal of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, escalated the persecution and marginalisation of the Hindu minority in the predominantly Islamic nation, intensifying what can be described as a silent genocide. Since her ouster, Islamists have carried out unchecked atrocities against Hindus, including physical violence, the destruction of temples and religious symbols, and the systematic displacement of Hindus from their ancestral lands. Hundreds of attacks on Hindu temples, shops, and businesses have been recorded following Sheikh Hasina's removal as Prime Minister. Many Hindus have been brutally murdered or injured in these assaults. Amid this, this report indicates that the robbers looted the homes of as many as 22 Hindu families and also looted one Hindu temple. The large-scale looting in Auliapur village, Bangladesh, was not just an act of robbery but a targeted attack against Hindus, as evidenced by multiple factors. Firstly, the victims were exclusively Hindu families—twenty-two of them—suggesting a deliberate selection rather than random criminal activity. If it were merely a case of robbery, one would expect a more indiscriminate approach, affecting families of different religious backgrounds. However, the focus on Hindu homes indicates a pattern of religious targeting. Secondly, the looters not only plundered homes but also attacked a Hindu temple, stripping it of all valuables. This is a significant indicator of religiously motivated intent. Temples are not typically places where criminals expect to find large sums of wealth; instead, they are sacred spaces for worship. The fact that the temple was looted along with the homes suggests that the purpose behind this was to intimidate, harass, or provoke the Hindu worshippers. Taken together, these factors indicate that the incident was not a simple case of robbery but a targeted act of religious intimidation and persecution aimed at Hindus. Such attacks are, in fact, a form of symbolic aggression against the Hindu community that stems from an innate hatred for Hinduism. It was done primarily out of animosity for Hindus and their faith, making it a kind of religious harassment worthy of being listed in the tracker. This fits a broader pattern of anti-Hindu violence seen in various parts of Bangladesh, where Hindu minorities have been subjected to orchestrated attacks to create fear and displacement, especially since the ousting of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024. Disclaimer: In this case, it is mentioned that the homes of 22 Hindu families were targeted. However, the exact number of individuals in each family is not specified. Due to this lack of clarity, we have relied on the 2022 Bangladesh census data, which indicates that the average family size in Bangladesh is approximately 4.26 members per household. To ensure a standardised estimation, we have opted to consider an average of 4 members per family. Based on this approach, the estimated total number of victims in this case is calculated as 88 individuals.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
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