Hindu genocide in Bangladesh Hindus and others have been regularly and systematically persecuted, the persecution has occurred during events which include the
Bangladesh genocide, the
Bangladesh Liberation War and
numerous recurring massacres of civilians resulting in continuous decline of Hindus in Bangladesh due to this ethnic cleansing.
Bangladesh Liberation War atrocities (1971) The Bangladesh Liberation War resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. While estimates of the number of casualties were 200,000–3,000,000, it is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan. The Pakistani Army killed many Bengali Hindus during the Liberation War, and most of the Bengali Hindu-owned businesses were permanently destroyed. The historic Ramna Kali Temple in Dhaka and the century-old Rath at Dhamrai were demolished and burned down by the Pakistani Army.
Post-liberation period (1971 onwards) Persecution of Hindus continued in independent Bangladesh. According to the report of
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2018, Hindus are among those who are persecuted in Bangladesh, with hundreds of cases of "killings, attempted killings, death threats, assaults, rapes, kidnappings, and attacks on homes, businesses, and places of worship" of religious minorities in 2017. Hindu temples in Bangladesh have also been vandalised. According to Dr. Abul Barkat, no
Hindus will be left in Bangladesh 30 years from now if the current rate of "exodus" continues as on an average 632 people from the minority community leave the Muslim-majority country each day. From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious persecution and discrimination which means on an average 632 Hindus left the country each day and 230,612 annually, he said at the book launch ceremony at the Dhaka University (DU).
Sheikh Mujib era (1972–1975) In the first constitution of the newly independent country, secularism and equality of all citizens irrespective of religious identity were enshrined. On his return to liberated Bangladesh,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his first speech to the nation, specifically recognized the disproportionate suffering of the Hindu population during the
Bangladesh Liberation War. On a visit to
Kolkata, India in February 1972, Mujib visited the refugee camps that were still hosting several million Bangladeshi Hindus and appealed to them to return to Bangladesh and to help to rebuild the country. Despite the public commitment of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his government to re-establishing secularism and the rights of non-Muslim religious groups, two significant aspects of his rule remain controversial as relates to the conditions of Hindus in Bangladesh. The first was his refusal to return the premises of the
Ramna Kali Mandir, historically the most important temple in Dhaka, to the religious body that owned the property. This centuries-old Hindu temple was demolished by the Pakistan army during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and around one hundred devotees were murdered. Under the provisions of the Enemy Property Act, it was determined that ownership of the property could not be established as there were no surviving members to claim inherited rights, and the land was handed over to the
Dhaka Club. Secondly, state-authorized confiscation of Hindu owned property under the provisions of the
Enemy Property Act was rampant during Mujib's rule, and as per the research conducted by Abul Barkat of
Dhaka University, the
Awami League party of
Sheikh Mujib was the largest beneficiary of Hindu property transfer in the past 35 years of Bangladeshi independence. This was enabled considerably because of the particular turmoil and displacement suffered by Bangladeshi Hindus, who bore the disproportionate burnt of the Pakistan army's genocide, as well documented by international publications such as
Time magazine and the
New York Times, and by the declassified
Hamoodur Rahman Commission report. This caused much bitterness among Bangladeshi Hindus, particularly given the public stance of the regime's commitment to
secularism and communal harmony.
Zia and Ershad regimes (1975–1990) President
Ziaur Rahman abandoned the constitutional provision for secularism and began to introduce Islamic symbolism in all spheres of national life (such as official seals and the constitutional preamble). Zia brought back the
multi-party system thus allowing organizations such as
Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (an offshoot of the
Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan) to regroup and contest elections. In 1988, President Hussein Mohammed Ershad declared Islam to be the State Religion of Bangladesh. Although the move was protested by students and left-leaning political parties and minority groups, to this date neither the regimes of the BNP or Awami League has challenged this change and it remains in place. In 1990, the Ershad regime was widely blamed for negligence (and some human rights analysis allege active participation) in the
anti-Hindu riots following the
Babri Mosque incident in India, the largest communal disturbances since Bangladesh independence, as a means of diverting attention from the rapidly increasing opposition to his rule. Many Hindu temples, Hindu neighbourhoods and shops were attacked and damaged including, for the first time since 1971, the
Dhakeshwari temple. The atrocities were brought to the West's attention by many Bangladeshis, including
Taslima Nasrin and her book
Lajja which translated into English means "shame".
Return to democracy (1991–2008) Immediately after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its
Islamic fundamentalist allies came to power in the October 2001 elections, ruling coalition activists attacked Hindus on a large scale in retribution for their perceived support of the opposition Awami League. Hundreds were killed, many were raped, and thousands fled to India. The events were widely seen as a repercussion against the razing of the Babri Mosque in India. Prominent political leaders frequently fall back on "Hindu bashing" in an attempt to appeal to extremist sentiment and to stir up communal passions. In one of the most notorious utterances of a mainstream Bangladeshi figure, the immediate past Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia, while the leader of the opposition in 1996, declared that the country was at risk of hearing "uludhhwani" (a Hindu custom involving women's
ululation) from mosques, replacing the azan (Muslim call to prayer) (e.g., see Agence-France Press report of 18 November 1996, "Bangladesh opposition leader accused of hurting religious sentiment"). After the election of 2001, when a right-wing coalition including two Islamist parties (
Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and
Islami Oikya Jote) led by the pro-Islamic right wing
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power, many minority Hindus and liberal secularist Muslims were attacked by a section of the governing regime. Thousands of Bangladeshi Hindus were believed to have fled to neighbouring India to escape the violence unleashed by activists sympathetic to the new government. Many Bangladeshi Muslims played an active role in documenting atrocities against Hindus during this period. The new government also clamped down on attempts by the media to document alleged atrocities against non-Muslim minorities following the election. Severe pressure was put on newspapers and other media outside of government control through threats of violence and other intimidation. Most prominently, the Muslim journalist and human rights activist
Shahriyar Kabir was arrested on charges of treason on his return from India where he had been interviewing Hindu refugees from Bangladesh; this was by the Bangladesh High Court and he was subsequently freed. The fundamentalists and right-wing parties such as the BNP and
Jatiya Party often portray Hindus as being sympathetic to India, and transferring economic resources to India, contributing to a widespread perception that Bangladeshi Hindus are disloyal to the state. Also, the right-wing parties claim the Hindus to be backing the
Awami League. In October 2006, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom published a report titled 'Policy Focus on Bangladesh,' which said that since its last election, 'Bangladesh has experienced growing violence by religious extremists, intensifying concerns expressed by the country's religious minorities'. The report further stated that Hindus are particularly vulnerable in a period of rising violence and extremism, whether motivated by religious, political or criminal factors, or some combination. The report noted that Hindus had multiple disadvantages against them in Bangladesh, such as perceptions of
dual loyalty concerning India and religious beliefs that are not tolerated by the politically dominant
Islamic Fundamentalists of the BNP. Violence against Hindus has taken place "in order to encourage them to flee in order to seize their property". The previous reports of the
Hindu American Foundation were acknowledged and confirmed by this non-partisan report. On 2 November 2006, USCIRF criticized Bangladesh for violence against minority Hindus. It also urged the
Bush administration to get Dhaka to ensure the protection of religious freedom and minority rights before Bangladesh's next national elections in January 2007. BJHM (Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote) claimed in its report that in 2017, at least 107 people of the Hindu community were killed and 31 fell victims to enforced disappearance 782 Hindus were either forced to leave the country or threatened to leave, and besides this, 23 were forced to get converted into other religions and at least 25 Hindu women and children were raped, while 235 temples and statues were vandalized during the year. The total number of atrocities happened with the Hindu community in 2017 is 6474. During the 2019 Bangladesh elections, eight houses belonging to Hindu families on fire in Thakurgaon alone. In April 2019, two idols of Hindu goddesses, Lakshmi and Saraswati, have been vandalized by unidentified miscreants at a newly constructed temple in Kazipara of Brahmanbaria. In the same month, several idols of Hindu gods in two temples in Madaripur Sadar Upazila which were under construction were desecrated by miscreants. In 2021, many
temples and houses of Hindus were broken and vandalized after an attack on them on
Narendra Modi visit to Bangladesh by
Hefazat-e-Islam and other radical groups as
anti-Modi protests. Similarly, there were attacks on Hindus in 2020, after some of them supported France after the
Murder of Samuel Paty. In the October of the same year there had been a severe
communal violence in Bangladesh against the Bengali Hindus, after the video of
Quran desecration at the
Durga Puja pandals was spread in which more than 120
Hindu temples were vandalized and 7 Hindus were killed. It was described by
The New York Times as "worst communal violence in years".
Post-revolution Bangladesh (2024–present) Following the
July Revolution that overthrown Hasina regime in August 2024,
Hindu temples, businesses and homes were attacked by mobs upset with how many Hindus in the country were seen as supporting the deposed Hasina's
Awami League party, something that was alleged to have upset more conservative Islamist political groups. As of 8 August 2024, a school teacher was reported dead and 45 injured, with 45 out of the country's 64 districts having at least one attack on Hindu individuals or property. Protesters protected Hindu temples and communities from extremists. In 2025
Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old Hindu garment worker, was accused by several Muslim colleagues of making derogatory remarks about the Islamic prophet
Muhammad. The accusations drew a violent mob who beat him to death, and hung his body from a tree and set on fire. ==Political representation==