Hindus warned of Noakhali-style genocide by Muslim woman in Bangladesh for celebrating Durga Puja
Khulna District, Bangladesh 
27 September, 2024
Case Summary
In Bangladesh, Hindus were subjected to violent threats of genocide by a Muslim woman named Papeya Nasrin. The accused is an assistant professor at Daulatpur College in Khulna district. According to media sources, Papeya Nasrin issued these threats under a social media post related to Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh. In her comment on one such post, she wrote: “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.” The accused's statement came amidst a surge in violent attacks by Muslim extremists on Hindus across Bangladesh, during which temples were vandalised and idols of deities desecrated. The reference the accused made to the Noakhali massacre carried a grave historical weight. The Noakhali violence was a religiously motivated genocide of Hindus, which began on 10th October 1946, during the festival of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja. Over a period of four weeks, armed Muslim extremists unleashed mass violence upon Hindus. Historical records documented that an estimated 50,000 Hindus were killed, while around 75,000 Hindu women were raped, and countless others were subjected to forced conversions. Entire villages were set ablaze, and the Hindu population of the region was decimated. Survivors faced inhumane conditions, with thousands seeking refuge in temporary camps in Comilla, Chandpur, and Agartala. This case is a stark example and a reminder of the persistent persecution the Hindu community faces in Bangladesh at the hands of Muslim extremists. Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on 5th August 2024, Bangladesh has plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken 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. Further, the arrest of Hindu priests has exacerbated the situation, with Hindu minorities protesting across Bangladesh and seeking justice.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. Within this, 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. This case is a stark example and a reminder of the virulent anti-Hindu hate speech that continues to target the Hindu community in Bangladesh. The words of the Muslim female professor, Papeya Nasrin, go beyond mere commentary; they embody explicit and deeply rooted religious animosity against Hindus. Her hate-laden speech surfaced amidst the joyous celebrations of Durga Puja, a festival that is sacred for Hindus. Instead of respecting the spirit of this cultural and religious event, she met it with immense hostility, revealing the inherent contempt she harboured for Hinduism and Hindus. It is deeply telling that the mere act of Hindus expressing their faith was met with overt aggression from someone in a position of influence and education. This demonstrated that the act was motivated by religious animosity. Papeya Nasrin called for Hindus to leave Bangladesh and “go to India” if they wished to practise or celebrate their religion, making it clear she saw no place for Hindus within her country’s social fabric. This exclusionary rhetoric illustrates not only personal prejudice but the perpetuation of wider societal intolerance, where one’s right to exist and worship freely is openly questioned. Most chillingly, she threatened that if Hindus did not curb their religious celebrations, a repeat of the Noakhali genocide would occur. Her words invoked memories of one of the most horrendous genocides of Hindus, where thousands were profiled, raped, murdered, beheaded, and forcibly converted to Islam by Muslim extremists. By referencing Noakhali, she not only trivialised the immense suffering endured by the Hindu community but appeared to advocate for similarly brutal persecution of Hindus, due to their religious identity. Such actions are a result of deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community and their faith, making it a religiously motivated hate speech. Given that this instance meets multiple parameters of religiously motivated hate speech—direct incitement, glorification of past violence, and calls for exclusion based on faith—it is being added to the hate crime database in the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
