Hindus in Bangladesh threatened with violence and genocide by Bangladeshi Muslim man amidst rampant Hindu persecution
Bangladesh 
8 May, 2025
Case Summary
The Hindu community in Bangladesh was issued threats of violence and genocide by a Muslim man. A video of his statements surfaced on social media. According to media reports, the video was first posted by a Dhaka-based news channel, Protidiner Khabar. In the video, the man was heard saying, “Pakistan is a Muslim country. We, Muslims, will obviously support Muslim countries like Pakistan.” He further stated, “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.” The Muslim man invoked the imaginary pretext of India killing all Muslims to justify his genocidal remarks against Hindus. 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 of- Hate speech against Hindus. Within this, the sub-category 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. This incident is a clear example of a hate crime against Hindus, as the Muslim man directly targeted them with explicit threats of large-scale killing. His words revealed a deliberate intent to single out the Hindu community, with threats of genocide solely on the basis of their religious identity. This selective targeting of Hindus reflected deep-seated hostility and animosity towards both the Hindu community and their faith. The Muslim perpetrator went further by attempting to rationalise his threats through the false claim that Muslims were being killed in India. This claim was wholly untrue. By invoking this fabricated narrative, he sought to legitimise violence and even genocide against Hindus in Bangladesh. Such distorted reasoning turns Hindus into scapegoats for events entirely beyond their control, showing how false grievances are weaponised to persecute a minority community in Bangladesh. These threats glaringly demonstrate the religiously motivated nature behind the perpetrator's speech. The accused also invoked Pakistan in his speech, asserting that he would always support Pakistan over India simply because it was a Muslim country. This reflected the mentality of the Islamic Ummah often cited by Muslim extremist groups, wherein solidarity with Muslims worldwide is valued above coexistence with non-Muslims. This worldview also underpinned the partition of India, where the idea of Muslim nationhood was used to create Pakistan, resulting in hostility towards Hindus. The Muslim perpetrator's expression of allegiance to the Ummah and to Pakistan illustrated doctrinal animosity, portraying Hindus as adversaries to be eliminated. Rooted in supremacist attitudes, this mindset treats non-Muslims as inferior or expendable, with religious identity itself becoming the justification for hostility. It is precisely this dehumanising mentality that sustains genocidal rhetoric against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. It is important to highlight that this incident was not an isolated one but part of a broader and continuing pattern of hostility that large sections of society in Bangladesh direct at Hindus. Attacks on temples, desecration of sacred spaces, harassment, and targeted violence against Hindu families have long exposed the vulnerability of the community. Statements like those made in this video normalise anti-Hindu bigotry, embolden Muslim extremists, and perpetuate an environment where Hindus remain at constant risk of persecution. For these reasons, this incident stands as a case of hate speech and hate crime against Hindus and is being formally recorded in the hate crime database.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
