Hindu man attacked by sharp weapon for opposing land encroachment of Hindu family by Muslims in Bangladesh

Case ID : 90a0986 | Location : Natore District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sat, 1 March, 2025

Case ID : 90a0986

Natore District, Bangladesh

1 March, 2025

Hindu man attacked by sharp weapon for opposing land encroachment of Hindu family by Muslims in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

A Hindu man named Sagar was attacked by a Muslim named Bitan with a sharp weapon for opposing land encroachment of a Hindu family. A Hindu youth named Pulak Kumar, along with his two brothers, purchased 1.21 acres of land from a Muslim man named Hamid Mia. On 2nd March 2025, Hamid Mia's nephew Bitan began fencing the land belonging to Palak Kumar's family. A local Hindu man named Sagar asked him to stop encroaching Palak's land. On hearing the opposition, Bitan attacked Sagar with a sharp weapon and it badly injured him. Sagar was rushed to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for treatment and a Muslim man named Shamim, a companion of Bitan, was arrested. Four weapons were recovered from him. The Hindu family filed a complaint in the police station. The victim Palak Kumar stated, “I and my brothers had been living on this land, which was purchased about 40 years ago. We have all the documents. Bitan and his aides trespassed into our land, created chaos and began a fight. We want peace through the army and police.” This case serves as a stark reminder of the increasing vulnerability faced by Hindu minorities amidst rising hostility in the Islamic state of 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 and seeking justice.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death and under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. 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. This case is a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime, as the attack on Sagar was not merely an isolated act of violence but one driven by deep-seated hostility towards Hindus. The aggression stemmed from his attempt to prevent the illegal encroachment of land belonging to a Hindu family. The fact that a Hindu man was targeted and brutally attacked with a sharp weapon for standing up against this encroachment signifies that the perpetrators intended not only to assert dominance but also to instil fear within the Hindu community. If the attack had been purely a land dispute, legal avenues could have been pursued, but instead, extreme violence was used as a tool of intimidation. Such acts, when directed explicitly at individuals based on their religious identity, qualify as religiously motivated hate crimes.