Bangladesh Human Rights body raises concern over mob attack on 21 Hindu homes

Dhaka, July 29 (IANS) The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) on Tuesday raised serious concerns after violent mobs allegedly attacked, looted, and vandalised at least 21 homes belonging to Hindu families in Gangachara, Rangpur district.

The human rights body mentioned that the violence on July 27–28 followed a blasphemy allegation against a 17-year-old Hindu boy who is already in police custody.

“A devastating episode of communal violence has forced scores of Hindu families to flee their homes in Rangpur’s Gangachara upazila after a 17-year-old Hindu boy was arrested over a Facebook post allegedly defaming the Prophet of Islam. What followed was not an isolated expression of anger but an organized campaign of pillaging, fear, and displacement,” read a statement issued by HRCBM.

“Over the course of two days, mobs rampaged through the Hindu-majority area of Aldadpur village, targeting homes, looting valuables, and terrorizing residents. Local accounts indicate that between 14 and 21 houses were attacked. Eyewitnesses describe the scene as chaotic and violent, with law enforcement either arriving too late or unable to control the crowd,” the statement added.

“I couldn’t sleep the entire night. By morning, we were packing everything we could—rice, bedding, goats—and fleeing the village. We don’t know if we’ll have a home to return to,” the human rights body quoted Kamalakanta Roy, a local farmer, as saying.

Citing police statements, HRCM stated that 14 Hindu homes were attacked, while local union officials and residents report that at least 21 homes were pillaged, with large amounts of property looted and livestock seized or sold in fear of further attacks.

“Victims say the violence was not random but organized, and designed to drive them out,” the rights body stated.

Detailing the violence on Hindu minorities, the human rights body mentioned that on Sunday, after midday prayers, a large mob gathered near Khilalganj market and marched toward the homes of “Sanatan”(Hindu) families.

It stated that “chanting religious slogans, they proceeded to loot valuables, destroy property, and terrorise residents who had already seen a similar attack the night before”. Several families were left with no choice but to evacuate.

“This was not a spontaneous act of anger. This was calculated. These families were targeted, their homes emptied, and their sense of security shattered,” the HRCBM quoted Union Member Paresh Chandra as saying.

According to the human rights body, tensions remain high in the area after law enforcement officials and army personnel were deployed to the area, in which a police constable sustained serious injuries while attempting to intervene.

Earlier on Sunday evening, police arrested the 17-year-old boy and registered a case under Gangachara Model Police Station on charges of blasphemy, the HRCBM stated.

“This is not an isolated event. False pretexts of blasphemy are increasingly used to target minorities, dispossess them, and force them into exodus in Bangladesh,” said the rights body.

Raising serious concerns regarding the investigation process, the human rights organisation stated that it is unclear whether the police conducted any digital forensic examination to verify the origin of the alleged post or determine whether the boy’s account had been hacked or misused.

Rights organisations fear that the boy may have been "coerced into admitting guilt" without proper legal representation or oversight.

“The events in Gangachara reflect a recurring and intensifying pattern across Bangladesh, where blasphemy allegations—frequently originating from questionable or manipulated social media posts—are used to justify violence against Hindu minorities. These accusations routinely lead to swift arrests, often without due process, followed by mob attacks on minority neighbourhoods,” the HRCBM emphasised.

According to the rights body in several parts of Bangladesh, from Gangachara to Shalla, from Narail to Abhaynagar, the cycle of persecution of Hindu minorities continues: “allegations, arrests, attacks, silence,” adding that beneath it all lies the “architecture of impunity”—a system that offers minorities in Bangladesh neither justice nor protection, but only abandonment.

--IANS

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