Hindu-owned shop vandalised by Muslims in Bangladesh amidst chanting of Islamic supremacist slogans
Dhaka, Dhaka District, Bangladesh 
23 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Dhaka University, Bangladesh, a Hindu-owned shop known as Madhu’s Canteen, alias Madhur Canteen, was vandalised by Muslims. The accused chanted slogans like Allahu Akbar, meaning Allah is great, while carrying out the attack. Madhu’s Canteen was originally founded by a Hindu man named Madhusudan Dey, who was killed by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. This business is currently owned by Arun Kumar Dey. According to media reports, the canteen was vandalised on 24 December 2025. A group of Muslim youths entered the canteen, chanted Islamic slogans like Allahu Akbar, and created destruction. Video footage of the incident went viral on social media, showing one of the attackers speaking incoherently, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Takbir’, and reciting Kazi Nazrul Islam’s famous poem Bidrohi (Rebel). The footage also showed him kicking and damaging a Chhatra Dal banner and throwing tables inside the canteen. In the clip, he identified himself as Mohammad Sagar and said that he was from Titas Upazila of Comilla and that he worked in Islampur. He was heard saying in the footage that he came there to visit the grave of Sharif Osman Hadi, an anti-Hindu and anti-India political activist. Regarding this entire incident, the Dhaka University Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed claimed that the accused was probably mentally unstable. Reports also confirmed that Mohammad Sagar was then handed over to the police. A fresh wave of anti-Hindu violence prevailed across Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. This escalation occurred against the backdrop of ongoing anti-Hindu violence that had persisted since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024, during which Hindu homes, temples, and religious spaces were repeatedly attacked, and the Hindu community faced intimidation, arson, and mob attacks. In the aftermath of Hadi’s death, Hindu homes were selectively targeted and set ablaze in multiple localities by Muslim mobs, forcing families to flee and rendering many homeless. The violence was not sporadic but patterned, with Muslim mobs targeting Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols with impunity. One of the many victims of this wave of violence was a Hindu man named Dipu Chandra Das, who was brutally lynched by a Muslim mob over false allegations of blasphemy. Such targeting of innocent Hindus over fabricated charges illustrated the vulnerability of the Hindu minority under conditions of rising communal hostility. Posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. Combined with acts of physical violence, arson, and vandalism, these developments demonstrated a coordinated campaign designed to terrorise the Hindu community and assert Islamic dominance. Notably, Sharif Osman Bin Hadi was a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India stance. He was actively involved in the political unrest that followed the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government and was killed in Dhaka in December 2025 during clashes, after which Hindus were blamed and subsequently targeted.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory 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. This case stands as a clear instance of a religiously motivated crime, as the Muslim attackers specifically targeted a Hindu-owned business at Dhaka University. They desecrated and vandalised the entire shop. If this were mere random criminality, they could have struck any shop nearby. Instead, they deliberately chose a Hindu-owned establishment, revealing deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community. This brutal vandalism sowed intimidation in the minds of local Hindus, marking it as a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime. The religiously motivated nature of the attack became even clearer as the attackers chanted "Allahu Akbar" during the assault. Traditionally, this slogan is a chant of glorification; however, Muslim extremists have weaponised it as a battle cry to intimidate Hindus and assert Islamic supremacy. In this case, the Muslim group raised it precisely as they launched their attack, mirroring patterns in other similar incidents: the 2020 Delhi anti-Hindu riots where Muslim mobs targeted Hindu homes and temples; the 2022 Karauli violence in Rajasthan with Hindu shops set ablaze; the Jahangirpuri riots in Delhi assaulting Hindu processions; and the September 2025 Bareilly clashes amidst the "I Love Mohammad" poster controversy. This slogan signals not devotion, but zealous threats against Hindus for their identity. Thus, the vandalism of this Hindu shop amidst such chants confirms it as a religiously motivated hate crime aimed at destroying Hindu livelihoods due to animosity towards Hinduism. The crime's religious roots sharpened further when one attacker, Mohammad Sagar, revealed that he had visited the grave of Sharif Osman Hadi, a notorious anti-Hindu and anti-India activist. Hadi's animosity fuelled the political exile of Sheikh Hasina, unleashing brutal violence against Hindus: temples were razed, Hindu families were killed, Hindu women were raped, and several Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam, amounting to an overall ethnic cleansing campaign. Sagar's visit to this figure underscores his anti-Hindu intent, cementing the attack as hate-driven. Since this case meets all parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: According to media reports, several Muslim youths, nearly a Muslim gang, attacked and vandalised Madhu's Canteen at Dhaka University. However, the exact number of perpetrators has not been specified. Only one perpetrator, named Mohammad Sagar, was identified. Henceforth, the perpetrator count is recorded as '1', referring solely to Mohammad Sagar. This count represents a conservative estimate.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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