Temple priest found murdered, tied-up with ropes

Case ID : b45f4ab | Location : Natore District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 20 December, 2024

Case ID : b45f4ab

Natore District, Bangladesh

20 December, 2024

Temple priest found murdered, tied-up with ropes

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Attack on Temples

Desecration of Hindu religious symbol

Case Summary

Tarun Chandra Das, a 55-year-old in charge of a Kali temple in Natore district, Bangladesh, was found murdered on the temple premises. His hands and legs were tied, and his body bore severe injuries, suggesting he was tortured before his death. Police attributed the murder to a robbery, dismissing claims of a targeted attack on minorities. They stated that robbers broke into the temple, looted valuables, and killed Das during the act. Locks on the donation box and storage room were broken, and the temple’s grills were cut. Cash and brass utensils were stolen Das had lived at the temple near a crematorium for 23 years. The incident occurred amidst escalating violence against Hindus in Bangladesh following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. Political turmoil enabled Islamist extremists to unleash terror, targeting Hindu communities. Mobs attacked homes, burned them, abducted women, and destroyed temples. Adding to the tension, three Hindu priests were arrested, prompting widespread protests by Hindu minorities across Bangladesh, demanding justice. The ongoing unrest highlighted the vulnerability of the Hindu community and the broader socio-political instability in the country.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the database under two prime categories. The first is- Attack resulting in death, within which, the 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, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. The second category selected is- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Attack on Temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category is- Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. Here, the Hindu priest was brutally tortured to death and the temple was desecrated. Though the Bangladesh police attributed the murder to a robbery, dismissing claims of a targeted attack on minorities, when there is an ongoing ethnic cleansing based on religious identity, every crime in and of itself is assumed to be motivated by the same religious animosity even if there is a lack of specific religious marker in the immediate crime. During an ongoing ethnic cleansing, the dehumanisation of people based on their religious identity and the normalisation of religious hostility drives the crimes committed against them even when there is a lack of stated religious motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, the Hinduphobia Tracker is assuming religious motivation ab initio. If a case is specifically and beyond reasonable doubt proven to be driven by motivations other than religious hostility, it will post-facto be removed from the hate crime database.