Hate speech targeting Hindus: Muslim man incites violence against Hindu temples in Bangladesh
Bangladesh 
25 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Bangladesh, several anti-Hindu remarks calling for the destruction of Hindu temples were made by a Muslim man. A video of the accused’s speech went viral on social media. It was shared by several Hindu users on platforms such as "Hindu Voice" on X (formerly Twitter) and "Sanatan TV" on Facebook on 26th October 2025. Although the video was undated, it showed a Muslim man inciting violence against Hindu temples and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Hindu organisation dedicated to Lord Krishna. In the video, the Muslim accused is heard saying, “Hindu temples are meant to be broken. Temple idols are meant to be destroyed. There can be no idol or its worship in a Muslim country like Bangladesh. There can be no ISKCON in Bangladesh. If you (Hindus) show your allegiance to Delhi, then go to Delhi. If you live in Bangladesh, you have to live like a Bengali (meaning like a Muslim).” This case serves as a stark reminder of the growing Muslim extremism and anti-Hindu sentiments in Bangladesh, which have 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- Hate Speech against Hindus. The subcategory 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. In this case, the Muslim accused deliberately incited other Muslims to break Hindu idols and destroy Hindu temples. His speech was not merely provocative but a direct call to desecrate the most sacred symbols of the Hindu faith. In Hinduism, a temple is far more than a structure of stone and pillars; it is a sanctified institution that embodies the community’s shared spiritual heritage, where prayer, devotion, and cultural identity unite. Any act of desecration against a temple is therefore an assault on both collective faith and human dignity. Likewise, an idol, or murti, is not an inanimate figure but a living embodiment of the deity it represents. Through consecration and daily worship, Hindus believe the divine presence resides within the idol, making it a sacred medium through which the devotee connects with the divine. To attack or defile such idols is to strike at the spiritual heart of Hinduism itself, inflicting deep emotional and psychological wounds upon its followers. The accused’s hateful and violent rhetoric clearly reflects entrenched religious hostility towards Hindus and contributes to a growing climate of fear among the community. In a Muslim-majority country like Bangladesh, where incidents of temple desecration, idol destruction, mob violence, and targeted killings of Hindu minorities are recurrent, such incitement is dangerous and intolerable. By urging others to desecrate Hindu symbols, the perpetrator displayed unmistakable religious animosity, making this a clear and grave instance of an anti-Hindu hate crime. Furthermore, the accused declared that idol worship could not exist in a Muslim country like Bangladesh. In Hinduism, the act of worship through idols is not mere symbolism—it is a way to connect directly with the divine, where the deity is worshipped through the sanctified idol. Therefore, denying or prohibiting idol worship equates to denying the Hindu community its right to practise its faith. By insisting that there can be no idols or their worship in Bangladesh, the accused effectively called for the eradication of Hinduism itself from the country. His violent discourse, promoting the extermination of the Hindu faith and community, reflected hatred and intolerance rooted in deep religious prejudice. This forms yet another clear instance of anti-Hindu hate speech and a religiously motivated offence. Additionally, his disgraceful remarks telling Hindus that “if your allegiance is to Delhi, go to Delhi” and “if you live in Bangladesh, you must live like a Muslim” revealed profound hostility towards the Hindu community. Suggesting that Bangladeshi Hindus are loyal to India rather than their own country is a false and discriminatory attempt to portray them as outsiders. This narrative has long been used as a scapegoating tool to justify violence and marginalisation against Hindus in Bangladesh. When the accused said that Hindus must live “like Bengalis”, he clearly equated Bengali identity with being Muslim, denying the legitimate and centuries-old presence of Bengali Hindus. Such rhetoric promotes exclusion and forced assimilation, effectively suggesting that Hindus must either adopt Islam or be driven out. This is not merely prejudice—it is an incitement to erase the existence of an entire faith community. Notably, this is not the first time the Hindu community in Bangladesh has been subjected to religious hostility from the Muslim majority. The Hinduphobia Tracker has previously documented multiple instances of anti-Hindu hatred, violence, and discrimination faced by Hindus in the country. In particular, numerous cases of anti-Hindu hate speech have been recorded, showing an alarming pattern of incitement and intolerance. For example, in May 2025, a Muslim man publicly issued threats of mass violence and genocide against Hindus in Bangladesh. A video of his verbal assault surfaced on social media, where he declared, “Pakistan is a Muslim country. We, Muslims, will obviously support Muslim countries like Pakistan,” and went on to state, “We will kill all Hindus living in this country. If you kill my Indian Muslim brothers, then we will not allow Hindus to exist here.” Statements like these reveal the explicit genocidal intent harboured by extremists against the Hindu population. In another instance, in February 2025, Muslims in Bangladesh threatened to slaughter one hundred cows on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh, a revered Hindu festival, with the deliberate intention of hurting Hindu religious sentiments. Such threats were deeply provocative, as the cow holds immense sanctity in Hinduism, symbolising purity, life, and reverence. Acts or threats of this nature are designed to humiliate and intimidate the Hindu community. Similarly, in yet another case, Hindus in Bangladesh were subjected to explicit calls for genocide by a Muslim woman named Papeya Nasrin, an assistant professor at Daulatpur College in Khulna district. Under a social media post related to Durga Puja celebrations, she commented, “Go to India and worship as much as you want. This is a Muslim country. If you overdo it, then what happened in Noakhali in 1946 will repeat again.” Her reference to the Noakhali massacre carried a chilling historical resonance. The Noakhali genocide of 1946, which began during the festival of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja on 10th October, saw armed Muslim mobs unleash extreme violence against Hindus. Historical accounts documented that around 50,000 Hindus were killed, approximately 75,000 women were raped, and many were forcibly converted. Entire villages were burned to the ground, erasing centuries-old communities. The survivors were left displaced, with thousands seeking refuge in temporary camps across Comilla, Chandpur, and Agartala. Given that this case meets the parameters of a religiously motivated hate speech, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of each incident based on when the act or offence actually occurs, rather than when it is later reported by media outlets. However, in this particular case, the viral video showing the Muslim accused making anti-Hindu remarks was undated and did not specify when the hate speech originally took place. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the date of 26th October 2025—when the video began circulating widely on social media—has been selected as the indicative date of the incident in the Hinduphobia Tracker database.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
