Kali Puja celebrations disrupted, Hindus violently stabbed by Muslim man in Bangladesh amidst ongoing rampant persecution of Hindus

Case ID : a0490ef | Location : Mymensingh, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Tue, 21 October, 2025

Case ID : a0490ef

Mymensingh, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh

21 October, 2025

Kali Puja celebrations disrupted, Hindus violently stabbed by Muslim man in Bangladesh amidst ongoing rampant persecution of Hindus

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Defiling religious customs

Breaking rules of place of worship

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

In Mymensingh district, Bangladesh, a Kali Puja celebration was violently disrupted, and members of the Puja committee were stabbed by a Muslim man named Mohammad Mamun. This incident occurred on 22nd October 2025. The accused, Mamun, entered the Kali Puja Mandap in Bara Kalibari, where celebrations were underway and attempted to extort money from the organisers. When the Hindu devotees refused to give him a ransom, Mamun attacked them with a knife. He stabbed a Hindu man named Manik Sarkar in the neck. When Manik’s wife, Bharati Sarkar, stepped forward to protect him, she was also stabbed. Sadhan Sarkar, a Hindu man and the General Secretary of the Bara Kalibari Bandhusangha Shyama Puja Celebration Committee, sustained injuries while trying to intervene and save the couple. Following the attack, the victims were taken to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for treatment. Among the injured, Bharati Sarkar was referred to Dhaka in critical condition. A local resident named Dwip stated that her lung had been pierced during the stabbing, causing severe internal bleeding. Her condition remained critical. Ratan Pal, President of the Bandhusangha Shyama Puja Committee, stated, “Every time, the goon Mamun demands money from us during the Puja. This time too, he demanded money, and when we refused, he stabbed three people, including our General Secretary, Sadhan Sarkar. There were several others accompanying him at the time.” Locals confirmed that Mamun was a known criminal in the area with several existing police cases against him. The police later managed to arrest the accused. Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, Shibirul Islam, stated that the arrested individual, Mohammad Mamun, was being interrogated in police custody. Enquiries were underway to identify others involved in the assault, and a formal case was being filed. The situation in the locality was brought under control. Mymensingh Additional Superintendent of Police, Abdullah Al Mamun, stated that three people were stabbed in the Puja mandap premises and were undergoing treatment at the hospital. An immediate police operation was launched following the attack, and the perpetrator was arrested. Authorities were collecting further information about the incident, and the complete details would be known after the enquiry process was concluded. This case serves as a stark reminder 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 plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists took 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.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The other subcategory selected is- Breaking rules of place of worship. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. One of these oral traditions or written traditions is the rules of specific temples. Certain temples have rules which are traditional rules, dependent on the worship of the presiding deities. These rules and traditions have been followed for thousands of years whether they find scriptural mention or not. Such traditions are based on the nature and rules of worship of the presiding deity of that temple. Any non-compliance of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the presiding deity but also disregard for the faith of the devotees of that deity/temple and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition and the deity itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific temple and presiding deity, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Another primary category selected is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory 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. In this case, the attack during the Kali Puja celebration in Mymensingh district was a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime directed against Hindus. The Muslim assailant, Mohammad Mamun, deliberately entered the Kali Puja Mandap while the worship of Goddess Kali was underway and disrupted the sacred celebration by demanding ransom from the devotees. This act, carried out during one of the holiest Hindu festivals dedicated to the fierce yet benevolent Goddess Kali, showcased deep-seated religious animosity and a deliberate attempt to dishonour the sanctity of a Hindu religious event. Kali Puja holds immense spiritual importance for Hindus—it symbolises the triumph of good over evil and the worship of the divine Mother who destroys ignorance and protects her devotees. By interrupting this sacred ritual with violence and coercion, the attacker not only defiled the purity of the event but also insulted the faith and devotion of the Hindu community gathered in celebration. The desecration extended beyond verbal abuse or disturbance; Mamun’s very act of using the Kali Puja mandap—a sanctified site of worship—as a platform to demand money and issue threats demonstrated complete disregard for religious sanctity. A temple or puja mandap is regarded as a sacred place solely meant for prayer, meditation, and ritual worship. Bringing violence or material demands into such a space constitutes a grave violation of the sanctity and discipline that govern Hindu places of worship. The act of converting this divine space into a scene of fear and coercion was not just a personal transgression but an outright insult to Hindu religious customs. It revealed the attacker’s contempt for the Hindu faith and his deliberate attempt to desecrate the sanctified environment of the festival. When the Hindu devotees courageously refused to comply with his demands, Mamun resorted to stabbing multiple individuals—Manik Sarkar, his wife Bharati, and Puja committee general secretary Sadhan Sarkar. This escalation from extortion to brutal physical violence laid bare the deeper intent behind the attack. If the motive had been purely financial, the assault would have ended with verbal disputes or theft. Instead, the attacker chose to inflict physical harm, targeting Hindu devotees engaged in worship. This violent response, set against the backdrop of a sacred religious gathering, underscored deep-rooted hate and hostility towards their religious identity. By desecrating the event, attacking worshippers, and violating the sanctity of the Mandap, the attacker clearly exhibited religious bias and intolerance towards Hindu traditions, making the motive behind the violence unmistakably communal and religious in nature. Given that this case fulfils the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime—such as targeting a Hindu religious event, desecrating a sacred place of worship, and attacking devotees based on their faith—it has been documented in the Hinduphobia Tracker’s hate-crime database as an anti-Hindu hate crime rooted in religious animosity. Disclaimer: Although some social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) stated that, along with Mohammad Mamun, two other Muslim individuals were also involved in the attack, mainstream media sources in Bangladesh have not mentioned either their names or the total number of Mamun’s accomplices. Therefore, for the purpose of documentation, the Hinduphobia Tracker has recorded the perpetrator count as '1', referring to Mohammad Mamun alone.