Case Summary

In Bangladesh, an 18-year-old Hindu boy named Ronjon Roy was unjustly arrested and his home vandalised by a Muslim mob over false allegations of blasphemy. According to reports, an unidentified miscreant created a fake Facebook account using Ronjon’s photos from his real profile. From this account, derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad and Islam were posted. Soon after, a Muslim mob took to the streets in protest, demanding action against the Hindu boy. Despite clear signs of impersonation and available evidence pointing to the fake account, the local police failed to investigate the matter properly or verify Ronjon’s connection to the offensive posts. Instead, they capitulated to mob pressure and arrested him without substantiating the claims. The situation escalated as the mob attacked and vandalised Ronjon’s home. Yet, no action was taken against those responsible for the violence. Notably, Officer-in-Charge Al Emran admitted that the arrest was made hastily to pacify the crowd and "bring the law-and-order situation under control," rather than on the basis of verified evidence. This incident is part of a disturbing and recurring pattern in Bangladesh, where fabricated or unverified blasphemy allegations are weaponised to persecute Hindu minorities. Such accusations often lead to orchestrated campaigns of intimidation, social ostracisation, and violent attacks. The misuse of blasphemy laws in this manner not only endangers individual lives but also threatens the safety and rights of entire minority communities. This incident is one of the several incidents of the continued persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, which has only increased manifold since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. After her violent ouster, 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. Reports have exposed how Muslim students forced around 60 Hindu teachers, professors, and government officials to resign. Exiled Bangladeshi activist Asad Noor has also revealed that the minority Hindu community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’. Hindu religious events have been repeatedly targeted. On 6th September, a procession carrying Lord Ganesha’s idol was attacked in Chittagong. Ahead of Durga Puja, multiple incidents of idol vandalism occurred, including attacks in Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi, Kishoreganj, and Dhaka. On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked three temples in Patharghata, Chittagong, immediately after Jumma Namaz. The crackdown on Hindu voices has also escalated. On 30th November, Hindu journalist Munni Saha was arrested in Dhaka. Muslim mob attacks have increased in Bangladesh, for example, on 22nd May 2025, a Muslim mob carried out arson attacks selectively on Hindu homes in Dahar Mashihati village in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore district of Bangladesh. Even ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, and attempts have been made to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges. These arbitrary actions point to a systematic pattern of persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Attacked over 'Blasphemy'. 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. The other sub-category relevant here is: - Attack 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. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu boy, Ronjon Roy, was falsely accused of blasphemy and his house was attacked and vandalised by a Muslim mob. Despite there being clear indications that the posts originated from a duplicate Facebook account created to impersonate him, the police did not even attempt to verify whether Ronjon had any access to that account before arresting him. In many such cases of alleged 'blasphemy', more often than not, especially during these waves of targeted violence against Hindus, Muslim mobs just need an excuse to attack non-Muslims, particularly Hindus. And that excuse is frequently "blasphemy." It has become a common and convenient trigger, fabricated or exaggerated, to justify a Muslim mob action against Hindus. The criteria for what constitutes blasphemy keep shifting, and in many cases, there's no actual offence, just a pretext born out of deep-seated animosity toward Hindus and their beliefs. The flexibility and vagueness of what constitutes blasphemy allow the Muslim extremists to weaponise it at will, making Hindus and other minorities easy targets in Bangladesh. Blasphemy laws, particularly in Muslim-majority countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, are routinely weaponised to persecute Hindus. A mere allegation is enough to spark outrage, mob violence, and legal action, often placing minority Hindus at serious risk. Muslims have also historically used 'blasphemy' charges as a pretext to incite violence, settle personal scores, or intimidate Hindus into silence and submission. The disproportionate targeting of Hindus under these laws is not accidental but driven by deep-rooted religious prejudice, with blasphemy allegations serving as a tool to persecute the minority Hindu community. Even in this case, as in many others, no due process was followed, no evidence was examined, no investigation was done, yet the Hindu boy was arrested, and the streets were filled with a mob ready to lynch them. The Muslim mob’s verdict replaced the rule of law. The disproportionate targeting of the Hindus under these laws was not accidental but driven by deep-rooted religious prejudice, with blasphemy allegations serving as a tool of social control and communal suppression. In the Muslim-majority nation, law enforcement and local administration often capitulate to the pressure of Islamist mobs, prioritising appeasement over justice. There is a consistent pattern of denying protection to Hindus and even criminalising them when they are the victims. Such state-backed inaction emboldens radical elements and effectively gives them a free pass to target Hindu minorities with impunity. This case, therefore, is not an isolated episode but part of a deeply entrenched pattern of religiously motivated hate and persecution of the Hindu community in Bangladesh. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database.