Hindus forcibly confined, their shops shut down over unverified accusation of 'blasphemy'
Dinajpur District, Bangladesh 
2 April, 2025
Case Summary
In the Bantara area of Dinajpur district, Bangladesh, a targeted campaign was launched against the local Hindu community by a radical Muslim group operating under the banner of “Towhidi Janata.” Citing a Facebook post allegedly made by a Hindu youth, this group declared an indefinite closure of all Hindu-owned shops in the region. In a video that went viral on X, the radical members of the Islamic group were heard threatening Hindus with violence, warning them to keep their establishments shut because of the Facebook post of one individual, which the Muslims deemed blasphemous. They are heard saying that they would vandalise and set fire to the Hindu shops if they dared to keep them open. This incident is a stark reminder of the continued persecution the Hindu minorities have been enduring in the Islamic nation of Bangladesh, which has only intensified since the violent ouster of Sheikh Hasina on 5th August 2024. At least 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops, and businesses were reported within just three days of Dhaka’s fall. 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. ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, while attempts to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges highlight systematic persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the first 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 sub-category selected is- Attack 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. This case has been added to the tracker as it clearly represents a religiously motivated hate crime targeting the Hindu community in Bangladesh. The indefinite closure of Hindu-owned shops in the Bantara area of Dinajpur district, the public threats of arson and vandalism, and the deliberate banning of Hindus from driving rickshaw vans are all forms of coercion, intimidation, and communal punishment inflicted solely on the basis of religious identity. Moreover, the justification cited—a Facebook post allegedly made by a Hindu youth—was used as a pretext to incite collective hatred and launch a sweeping crackdown on the Hindu community, a common pattern observed in blasphemy-related violence where the accusation alone, regardless of evidence or context, triggers mob mobilisation and persecution. As seen in several cases, this law is often used as a tool of oppression and violence, leading to false accusations, mob justice, and social ostracisation of Hindus. This law, which is liberally used in Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to attack minority Hindus residing there, has become increasingly common in India too, where bloodthirsty Islamists often twist and use these laws to settle their scores with Hindus. The misuse of blasphemy laws against Hindus is often motivated by religious prejudice. Hindus are targeted because of their religious identity. This aggressive and targeted economic boycott, spearheaded by radical Islamist elements operating under the name “Towhidi Janata,” is a blatant example of how accusations of 'blasphemy' are weaponised to justify anti-Hindu aggression. The threats to burn down shops if opened and the imposition of a ban on livelihood activities for Hindus indicate not only a desire to punish an individual but a wider agenda to terrorise and dominate the entire Hindu population in the area. The use of collective threats, communal diktats, and intimidation tactics clearly demonstrates that the attack was driven by deep-seated animosity toward the Hindu faith and identity. As such, this incident warrants inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker as a serious and systemic expression of religious hatred manifesting through targeted violence, discrimination, and threats against a vulnerable minority.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
