Six Hindu temples looted in 24 hours; minority Hindus left in fear amid continued large-scale persecution in Bangladesh
Gopalganj District, Bangladesh 
11 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Kotalipara Upazila, Gopalganj district, Bangladesh, six Hindu temples were looted within a span of 24 hours. One woman from the affected area shared that a temple in Duaripara was broken into on 12th June, followed by the looting of four more temples the next day. Essential items used for daily worship were taken, including puja utensils and sacred ornaments. “If this keeps on happening, then we cannot replace the stolen puja material every time,” she said. “It takes a significant amount of money to purchase puja utensils made of brass and bronze. We do not have the financial means to do it each time.” Appealing directly to the authorities, she continued, “Necessary steps must be taken to prevent looting of our valuables. I am making a heartfelt request to the government. The Hindu community is unable to bear the atrocities committed against it.” She emphasised the growing helplessness felt by the community: “We are drawing the attention of the government. It is up to the government to nab the perpetrators. We are helpless, and we cannot do anything about it.” An elderly woman described how she discovered the theft during her morning visit to the temple on 13th June. “When I came to the temple early morning to offer prayers, I found that the earrings of the deity were missing.” Further inspection revealed that all gold ornaments adorning the idols of Gopal, Radha Krishna, and Manasa had disappeared. She also noted that while most of the idols were made of brass, the idol of Radha Krishna was crafted in silver—a cherished gift from her youngest son. “I have been offering prayers every day for the past three to four years,” she added. Another woman recounted that the intruders first entered their home and then moved towards the temple, which remained unlocked at night. “We did not realise what happened during the night time. We found out about the robbery only in the morning.” A young man from the village reported that bronze plates, a pitcher, and puja essentials worth approximately ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 were stolen. “All of us are in a state of fear,” he stated. The repeated attacks have left the Hindu residents anxious and vulnerable, with their religious spaces desecrated and their means to continue traditional worship severely impacted. At the time of writing this report, there was no confirmation of arrests, and the community continued to await firm action from the authorities. This incident is a stark reminder of the prolonged persecution of Hindus in the Islamic nation of Bangladesh, which has only increased manifold ever since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. After her violent ouster, Bangladesh 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. Reports have exposed how Muslim students forced around 60 Hindu teachers, professors, and government officials to resign. Exiled Bangladeshi activist Asad Noor has also revealed that the minority Hindu community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’. Hindu religious events have been repeatedly targeted. On 6th September, a procession carrying Lord Ganesha’s idol was attacked in Chittagong. Ahead of Durga Puja, multiple incidents of idol vandalism occurred, including attacks in Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi, Kishoreganj, and Dhaka. On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked three temples in Patharghata, Chittagong, immediately after Jumma Namaz. The crackdown on Hindu voices has also escalated. On 30th November, Hindu journalist Munni Saha was arrested in Dhaka. Muslim mob attacks have increased in Bangladesh, for example, on 22nd May 2025, a Muslim mob carried out arson attacks selectively on Hindu homes in Dahar Mashihati village in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore district of Bangladesh. Even ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, and attempts have been made to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges. These arbitrary actions point to a systematic pattern of persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category, which is- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory 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 systematic looting of six Hindu temples within 24 hours in Kotalipara Upazila, Gopalganj district, cannot be viewed in isolation from the broader context of targeted violence against the Hindu community in Bangladesh. These attacks are not random thefts; they are deliberate, ideologically driven assaults on sacred institutions of a religious minority, executed during a time of political turmoil that spilt over into targeted violence against Hindus. In the Hindu tradition, a temple is not simply a physical structure or a communal space. It is the sacred abode of the deity. The consecration rituals render the deity a living presence, and the temple premises are imbued with divine energy. Thus, for practising Hindus, the temple space is inseparable from the worship of the divine and central to the daily expression of their faith. Here, one could argue that looting is conventionally regarded as a criminal act driven by economic intent. 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 markers 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. To document 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.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
