Hindu family victimised over religious identity by Muslim neighbours, forced to flee from Bangladesh

Case Summary
On December 7, 2024, a Hindu family of ten from Bangladesh fled to India through the dense forests of Tripura, seeking refuge from escalating anti-Hindu violence. The family, hailing from Dhanpur village in the Kishorganj district of Bangladesh, consisted of three women, three minors, two adult men, and an elderly patriarch, Sudhir Sarkar. They were apprehended by Indian authorities at Ambassa Railway Station in Tripura as they attempted to board a train to Silchar, Assam. The family cited growing atrocities against Hindus following the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in August 2024. Under the government led by Muhammad Yunus, they stated a surge in communal violence and systemic discrimination targeting Hindus. The Sarkars, who previously coexisted peacefully with their Muslim neighbours, reported that these same neighbours became hostile, barring them from markets, threatening their safety, and rendering their livelihoods unsustainable. The family described incidents of women being confined indoors, children prevented from attending school, and repeated physical assaults. Their property and belongings were seized or left behind as they escaped, trekking through dense forests to avoid detection by both Bangladesh’s Border Guard and India’s Border Security Force (BSF). They walked through the jungle for hours, eventually reaching the international border near Sri Mangal. To evade authorities, they waited until nightfall and continued their trek into Tripura, finally arriving in Kamalpur district. After spending the night in the jungle between Kamalpur and Ambassa, they took an autorickshaw to the Ambassa Railway Station, intending to travel to Silchar, Assam. It was here that they were intercepted by Indian security forces. On December 8, the family was charged under the Indian Passport Act for entering the country illegally. Seven adult members were sent to the Chailengta Subdivisional Jail, while the three minors were placed in the Narsingarh Juvenile Home in Agartala. The patriarch, Sudhir Sarkar, expressed hope of gaining Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). Shankar Chandra Sarkar one of the arrested Bangladeshi Hindus expressed, “We have come from Bangladesh. We came to India because we can’t stay there (Bangladesh) anymore in the face of atrocities. I worked as a driver at Dhanpur in Kishorganj district. People tried to assault me. Our women are not safe there. I shall not go back from India even if I am jailed." Before being sent to judicial custody, Sudhir Sarkar appealed to Indian authorities for compassion. “Nobody wants to leave their birthplace,” he said, urging the Indian government to consider the plight of persecuted minorities. He stressed that their migration was not by choice but by necessity.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the primary category 'Attack not resulting in death' under two sub-categories. The first sub-category this case is being added to 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 this case is being added to is 'Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated areas'. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. In this case, amid the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, a family of 10 Hindus escaped to India and illegally crossed over to escape the large scale violence against Hindus unleashed by the state of Bangladesh and the Muslim mobs. The Hindu victim said that he was assaulted by a Muslim mob and amid the ongoing violence, his family was unsafe. The victims went as far as to say that they would stay in jail in India but would not go back to Bangladesh. On August 5th 2024, Bangladesh plunged into chaos after a successful coup ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, forcing her to flee the country as an enraged mob approached her residence. In the wake of the coup, Islamists exploited the unrest to launch violent attacks on the Hindu community, leading to numerous deaths, rapes, and the destruction of Hindu homes, shops, and temples, many of which were set on fire. That litany of violence against Hindus has continued with several being killed, raped, rendered homeless, and hounded, with Muslim mobs asking them to convert, pay jiziya and flee to India. The Muslim mobs view India as a Hindu collectivity and therefore, they have on several occasions during the ongoing persecution asked Hindus to flee to India. The Hindu family in this case fled to India to find refuge from the persecution and the attacks against Hindus have the aim of such exodus as well. This attack is fuelled and motivated by hostility towards Hinduism, Hindus and their representations of faith and is, therefore, being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
10
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 3
- Female 3
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 4
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 10
Age Group
- Minor 3
- Adult 5
- Senior Citizen 1
- Unknown 1

Case Status
Case sub-judice

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown