Hindu man attacked and his shops looted by Muslim mob amidst large scale Hindu persecution in Bangladesh

Case ID : ea3497e | Location : Dinajpur District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Tue, 6 August, 2024

Case ID : ea3497e

Dinajpur District, Bangladesh

6 August, 2024

Hindu man attacked and his shops looted by Muslim mob amidst large scale Hindu persecution in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Birampur Upazila of Dinajpur district, Bangladesh, the residence and businesses of Dilip Kundu, a Hindu and a fertiliser and agrochemical trader, were violently attacked. According to the victim, the assault was premeditated and publicly announced over the loudspeaker to gather a mob. Following the announcement, a large group descended on his house and shops, engaging in widespread vandalism, looting, and destruction. This incident highlights the ongoing vulnerability of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, who continue to face targeted violence and persecution. The lack of prompt action by law enforcement further emboldened the perpetrators, creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among Hindu families. Many victims were left displaced, struggling to rebuild their lives amidst the ruins of their homes and businesses. The destruction of temples and religious sites underscored the systematic attempt to erase Hindu cultural and spiritual identity. Reports of similar targeted violence against the minority community across various districts, especially after the violent ousting of Sheikh Hasina on 5th August 2024, indicate that these assaults were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of religious intolerance and hostility. The absence of legal recourse and the failure of the authorities to hold the attackers accountable exacerbated the sense of marginalisation faced by the Hindu community, leaving them vulnerable to further violence and displacement.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Attack not resulting in death. Within it 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. 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. In this case, the victim stated that the attack was publicly announced over a loudspeaker to gather a mob of Islamists, specifically to target him. Such announcements are typically made when an individual is deliberately singled out. In this instance, the targeting was based on the victim’s religious identity. 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.