Hindu shop owners in Bangladesh face death threats for opening businesses before Iftar during Ramadan
Dhaka, Dhaka District, Bangladesh 
24 February, 2026
Case Summary
Hindu shop owners in Bangladesh are facing death threats during Ramadan, with warnings that they will be killed if they open their shops before iftar, triggering widespread fear and economic disruption among the minority community. During the ongoing Ramadan period, Hindu owned shops and food establishments across several parts of Bangladesh have come under pressure from Muslim groups demanding that businesses remain closed during fasting hours. Hindu traders have reported being directly threatened and warned not to operate their shops during the day. In multiple instances, they have been told that opening their establishments before iftar would lead to violent consequences, forcing many to shut down their businesses out of fear. This pressure has extended beyond verbal threats. In several areas, Hindu shopkeepers have been prevented from serving customers during the day, and in some cases, even allowing customers to eat inside their premises has been obstructed. Reports indicate that groups have been enforcing daytime closures in the name of maintaining the sanctity of Ramadan, creating an atmosphere of intimidation for non Muslim business owners. Human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra has expressed concern over reports that food shops and restaurants are being forcibly closed in various parts of the country, with shop owners complying out of fear for their safety and livelihoods. Even attempts by Hindu shopkeepers to continue business discreetly have been met with hostility. There have been cases where shops operating behind curtains were still targeted. Earlier, in 2024, a Hindu restaurant owner in Sylhet, Rajib Kumar Dey, was physically assaulted and seriously injured for keeping his shop open during Ramadan. Reports indicate that similar pressure and threats have intensified again during Ramadan in 2025–2026. Islamist groups such as Jamaat e Islami have also organised marches demanding closure of hotels and restaurants during fasting hours, further increasing pressure on Hindu owned businesses. These developments are unfolding in the broader context of sustained and escalating persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024. Between 5 August 2024 and 17 December 2025, Hinduphobia Tracker documented 336 incidents of targeted violence, intimidation, and coercion against Hindus. This period saw repeated attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and religious institutions, alongside arson, mob assaults, and intimidation campaigns targeting minority neighbourhoods. A further escalation occurred following the death of Osman Hadi, the 32 year old leader of the students’ movement in Bangladesh, who was shot on December 12 and succumbed to his injuries in Singapore on December 18. In the aftermath of his death, Hindu communities were blamed and became targets of retaliatory violence. Between 18 December and 11 February, Hinduphobia Tracker documented 51 incidents of Hindu targeting. Hindu homes were selectively set on fire in multiple areas, forcing families to flee and leaving many displaced. The attacks showed a clear pattern, with mobs focusing on Hindu neighbourhoods, religious symbols, and properties. In one particularly brutal incident, Dipu Chandra Das was lynched and his body was burned by a mob following false allegations of blasphemy. Reports also emerged of posters and written messages openly calling for violence against Hindus, reflecting a dangerous normalisation of extremist rhetoric. Most recently, a fresh wave of anti Hindu violence followed the 13th National Parliamentary Election in 2026, reinforcing a recurring pattern of post poll targeting of Hindu minorities. Within days of the election results, Hindu families in districts including Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported coordinated attacks involving arson, looting, physical assault, and vandalism of homes and temples. Hindu houses were selectively targeted and looted, and families were threatened with displacement, further deepening insecurity among the community. Taken together, these successive waves of violence since August 2024 have created a sustained climate of fear for Hindus in Bangladesh. The death threats against Hindu shop owners during Ramadan are part of this broader pattern of intimidation, coercion, and targeted hostility, where economic pressure, violence, and threats are being used to marginalise and terrorise the Hindu minority.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This incident has been placed within the category- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, 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. The other category selected is- Hate speech against Hindus, and 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 incident demonstrates clear religious targeting, where the victim was confronted and threatened while carrying out normal economic activity during Ramadan. The hostility was not triggered by any personal dispute but arose specifically because the victim continued operating his Hindu owned establishment during a period when Islamist groups and local mobs were enforcing religious conformity in public spaces. The threats explicitly referenced the timing of iftar, showing that the intimidation was directly tied to the observance of a Muslim religious festival and the expectation that others must alter their behaviour accordingly. The coercion and violent threats were used as tools to force compliance with religious norms that do not apply to the Hindu community, effectively restricting the victim’s freedom of livelihood and religious autonomy. By warning Hindu shop owners that they would be killed if they opened their shops before iftar, the perpetrators asserted control over shared public and commercial spaces on the basis of religious dominance, treating the presence and normal activity of Hindus during Ramadan as something that could be punished. This reflects an assertion of religious supremacy, where the majority community’s practices are imposed on minorities through intimidation and threats of violence. Such incidents frequently occur in areas where Hindu minorities live or operate within localities dominated by hostile majoritarian elements, creating conditions where mobs can quickly mobilise and enforce religious conformity. In these environments, Hindu businesses and individuals become vulnerable targets, facing collective intimidation, threats, and violence for simply continuing their daily activities without adhering to externally imposed religious expectations. The rapid mobilisation of mobs and the open issuance of death threats reinforce a climate of fear and signal to the Hindu community that their presence and livelihood remain under constant threat. This targeting also reflects a broader and continuing pattern of persecution faced by Hindus in Bangladesh, where they have repeatedly been subjected to threats, violence, intimidation, and economic coercion. Over time, such incidents have included attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and businesses, as well as threats designed to force compliance, displacement, or silence. The recurrence of such intimidation during religious occasions further highlights how Hindu identity itself becomes the basis for targeting, reinforcing their vulnerability as a religious minority. Taken together, these elements establish that the victim was targeted because of his Hindu identity and his refusal to submit to coercive religious pressure. The explicit death threats, combined with organised intimidation and the wider pattern of hostility, demonstrate a clear case of religion based targeting intended to suppress the rights, security, and economic freedom of Hindus, warranting its documentation as a hate crime.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
