Following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024, attacks began on Hindus in Bangladesh, with Hindu homes, businesses and places of worship being targeted en masse. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported that from 4 to 20 August, a total of 2,010 incidents (including 69 temples) of attacks on minorities took place across the country within this 16-day period.
Among the incidents, the homes of 157 families were attacked, looted, vandalised and set on fire while some of their businesses were also attacked, looted and vandalised. Five Hindus were killed in these attacks, of which at least two were confirmed as Awami League members. According to a UN Human Rights Office report, these abuses also affected Ahmadiyya Muslims, Hindus, and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Background
In July 2024, the quota reform movement morphed into a fierce anti-government non-cooperation movement, known as the July Uprising, ultimately removed the Awami League government from state power with the resignation of Sheikh Hasina who was accused of fostering authoritarianism, corruption and democratic backsliding. Various violence took place against the Hindu minority of Bangladesh after the political unrest. Various people from the Hindu background were affected by the mob violence.
Attacks
Following Hasina's departure, a series of communal attacks were reported, particularly targeting Hindus in Bangladesh. These incidents included alleged attacks on temples, houses, and shops belonging to minority communities, as well as reports of looting and murder across several districts in the country.
According to the investigation conducted by Prothom Alo correspondents across 64 districts and 67 upazilas between 5–20 August 2024, 1,068 attacks on the minority community occurred in 49 districts. The majority of the attacks occurred in the southwestern division of Khulna, where at least 295 homes and businesses belonging to minority communities were destroyed. In addition, 219 structures were damaged in Rangpur, 183 in Mymensingh, 155 in Rajshahi, 79 in Dhaka, 68 in Barishal, 45 in Chattogram, and 25 in Sylhet. The extent of the damage varied, with some areas experiencing severe destruction, while others sustained less significant harm. Two members of the Hindu community were killed in the violence, and a total of 912 attacks were documented. Of these, in at least 506 cases, the victims were affiliated with Awami League. Correspondents from Prothom Alo personally observed 546 damaged houses and businesses, accounting for 51 percent of the total damaged structures.
Minority groups in Bangladesh reported 2,010 incidents of communal violence across the country between 4–20 August 2024. 1,705 families were directly affected in the violence. Among them, 157 families had their homes and businesses were attacked, looted, vandalized, and set on fire. Lands of some of the families were forcibly occupied. 9 people died in the violence. An investigation published on 30 October by Netra News found that none of the murders bore clear signs of religious or communal motives. Instead, a mix of political retribution, mob violence, and criminal homicides was behind the incidents involving the seven deaths. Additionally, some cases, the Unity Council's assertions were undercut by the very news reports they cited and by their own grassroots officials.
According to sources from the police headquarters, following the fall of the Awami League government, between 5 and 9 August, there have been 47 incidents surrounding puja mandaps (pandals), including the vandalism of 30 idols and temples, 4 thefts or robberies, 3 arson attacks, and 10 other incidents. According to Bangladesh Police, 35 untoward incidents related to Durga Puja in Bangladesh since 1 October. 17 persons have been arrested and about a dozen cases registered.
Samakal analyzed 296 incidents of communal violence against Hindu communities and found 135 to be true.
At a press conference organized by the Bangladesh Chhatra Oikya Parishad, an organization representing the minority community, it was claimed that 49 teachers from the minority community have been forced to resign between 5 and 31 August.
An OHCHR report described the violence against Hindus to be motivated by "religious & ethnic discrimination, revenge against Awami League supporters, local communal disputes over land & interpersonal issues."
After the visit of India's foreign secretary on 9 December 2024, the interim Bangladeshi government stated that it had arrested 77 people in connection to 88 cases registered for violence against Hindus. Indian Minister of External Affairs (MoS), Kirti Vardhan Singh stated in the Lok Sabha that between 26 November 2024 and 25 January 2025, 76 incidents of anti-Hindu violence took place. Since Hasina's resignation, 23 Hindus were killed and 152 Hindu temples were desecrated. The claim of 23 Hindus killed was later refuted by the police.
In January 2026, the acting general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council stated that between August and November 2024, 82 Hindus were killed and the total number of reported "atrocities" during the same period amounted to 2,673.
Khulna Division
The highest number of attacks occurred in the Khulna Division, with 74 homes and businesses destroyed in the Khulna district between 5–20 August, followed by Jashore, Satkhira, and Magura. On the night of 5 August, an attack was launched on Bejpara, a neighborhood in Jashore town where at least 200 Hindu families reside.
On 6 August, a retired schoolteacher, Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee, was killed in Bagerhat Sadar Upazila. In Jashore, 50 Hindu houses were attacked, torched, looted, and robbed at various locations.
In Meherpur, nine Hindu houses were attacked, including one belonging to an Awami League leader. Several thousand people vandalized at least 25 shops and looted goods in Narkelbaria Bazar of Bagharpara Upazila. Twenty to twenty-five Hindu houses were vandalized and looted in five villages of Dhalgram Union Parishad in Bagharpara Upazila in four separate occasions. Minority-owned homes and businesses in Koyra Upazila of Khulna District were looted.
On 21 September, multiple temples in Dacope Upazila of Khulna have repeatedly received anonymous letters via mail addressed to the temple's Puja celebration committees. The letters state, "To celebrate Durga Puja, each temple must pay a donation of five lakh taka." Along with this, the letters issue a threat: anyone who informs the authorities or the press will be killed. The committee decided to cancel the Durga Puja. The content of the letters sent to the three temples is almost identical.
Rangpur Division
The second largest number of attacks occurred in Rangpur Division. The minority communities in the districts of Lalmohirhat, particularly Kaliganj Upazilla, Hatibandha Upazila, Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Laxmipur within this division were particularly targeted.
In Phulbari, Kurigram, a 16-year-old schoolgirl was abducted. Locals report that at the beginning of September, a letter was posted on a tree in the Hindu neighborhood, stating, "This house's girl will be taken away and converted to Islam." Later, on 4 September, Ranjit Chandra Sen filed a general diary in the Phulbari Police Station. Locals also report that on Wednesday, around 5 p.m., while she was returning home from a coaching center, Alinur Rahman and his accomplices abducted her.
It was alleged that on 22 November, a chartered bus, en route from Rajarhat in Kurigram District to a rally in Rangpur organized by the Bangladesh Sanatan Jagaran Jote to raise the demands of the Hindu community, was attacked in Kaunia. Thirty people were injured.
Mymensingh Division
Attacks against homes, businesses and places of worship occurred in Netrakona and Mymensingh's Dhobaura Upazila, with fewer incidents being reported in Sherpur and Jamalpur. While multiple Hindu-owned shops were looted and vandalized in Netrakona town.
On the night of 1 September, a community temple in Vayadanga Bazaar, Ranisimul Union, Sreebardi Upazila, Sherpur District, was vandalized, with idols being damaged. Although petrol was sprayed after the vandalism, the intervention of police and army personnel prevented the fire from being ignited.
Chittagong Division
Mobs in Hatiya Upazila of Noakhali District attacked three houses and four businesses belonging to Hindus. In Chandpur District, the homes of school principals Ratan Kumar Mazumder in Chandpur town and Haripad Das in Faridganj Upazila were attacked. In the Comilla District, the Durga idol was damaged and the donation box at the temple was looted.
On 21 September, idols were vandalized at a Durga Puja Mandap in Ramganj, Lakshmipur. The president of the Bangladesh Youth Unity Council, Shimul Saha, said, "In Ramganj, children were incited and used to carry out the attack and vandalism of idols." Additionally, there were reports of attacks on Hindu homes in a village near Chattogram, according to witnesses and the relatives of those affected.
On 1 November, Sanatan Jagaran Manch proclaimed a protest rally against attacks on Hindus, vandalism and arson of temples, and looting of property in Chattogram. The police barred the Hindus from joining the rally. Liakat Ali Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Chattogram Metropolitan Police (South), said, "As per administrative orders, we hindered them from holding the rally." On 31 August, a sedition case was filed at Kotwali Police Station against 19 persons, including Sanatan Jagaran Manch spokesperson Chinmoy Krishna Das.
Dhaka Division
A group of 100–150 people, led by BNP leader Azizul Haque, attacked a Hindu household in Dhamrai Upazila. Two private cars were vandalized along with furniture from the house and the temple. Two Hindu-owned shops were looted in Sadarpur Upazila. In Shariatpur, miscreants destroyed the Dhakua Manasa Bari temple and attempted to attack Hindu homes, but the assault was thwarted by the arrival of the Army.
On 30 August, in Kaliakair Upazila of Gazipur, there was an attempt to seize a temple and Hindu land. BNP leader Lebu Mia, accompanied by 50–60 hired thugs, attacked and vandalized the 'Radhagobind Loknath Natmandir'. When the Hindu community attempted to resist, they were also assaulted, resulting in 10–12 injuries. Additionally, there was an attack on a house within the temple complex. Regarding this incident, Kaliakair Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Kawsar Ahmed stated that the army and police were promptly notified of the attack on the temple.
On the night of 11 October, an object resembling a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Durga Puja pandal in Dhaka's Tantibazar. People chased the perpetrators, who would then injure four people by stabbing them in an effort to escape. On 14 October, During the visarjan (immersion) of the Hindu idols, some extremists started throwing bricks at the Hindus from the roof of a building in old Dhaka. When some Hindus tried to go up to the building to stop them from throwing the bricks, the police prevented the Hindus from going up. In this incident, two Hindus were injured.
On 17 November, accusing a Hindu youth of having a romantic relationship with a Muslim teenage girl in Karimganj, he was severely beaten in the presence of the army. When taken to 'PAH Medical College Hospital,' the on-duty doctor declared him dead.
On 7 December, the Shri Shri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple in the Turag area was set on fire by pouring petrol or octane. The fire burned the idols inside the temple and goods worth approximately 1 lakh taka.
Barisal Division
The residence of Kalapara mayor Bipul Chandra was attacked around 5:00 p.m. In Gournadi Upazila of Barisal District, miscreants looted a Hindu-owned clothing store and assaulted a Hindu school teacher in her home. Additionally, arsonists attempted to set fire to the home of a prominent Hindu businessman in Barisal city, but the attempt was thwarted by local residents.
On 8 August, an attack and looting took place at Hindu household in Patuakhali Sadar Upazila. In Madhukhali Upazila of Faridpur District, miscreants targeted several homes and businesses, damaged a Kali temple, and assaulted a Hindu homeopathy doctor.
On 21 October, a group of people attempted to seize the land of 21 Hindu families in Patuakhali town. A Hindu family in Kalapara Upazila of Patuakhali was threatened with eviction from the country after confiscating their land. One of the victim alleged Kalapara Upazila BNP Secretary Hafizur Rahman Chunnu for land grabbing.
Rajshahi Division
On 4 August, the house of Suranjit Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Puja Celebration Committee of Mohanpur Upazila in Rajshahi, was vandalized, looted, and set on fire. The residence of a Hindu shopkeeper was also attacked.