Bangladesh's Hindu community fears it will pay the costs of the 'revolution' (2024)

On the night of Monday, August 5 at around midnight, several men burst into the home of the Chakraborty family, Hindus living in the southern district of Bagerhat. Priyonti, the youngest daughter, aged 21, had time to hide.

"I saw the attackers hit my father on the head. He died on the spot," she said by telephone. Her mother and sister were seriously injured, she added. Priyonti believes that the attackers took advantage of the chaos that prevailed that night after the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to flee to India. "I suspect that neighbors attacked us in order to take our land."

The survivors have deserted the family home, whose floor remains covered in her father's blood. "We haven't cleaned it up so that the police can gather the evidence they need for the investigation," explained Priyonti. No case has been lodged and no investigative work has yet taken place, as the majority of police officers have just returned to duty after a week's strike. Taking part in the brutal repression of the student movement, they had deserted for fear of reprisals. "What are we going to do if we are attacked again?" said Priyonti fearfully.

For a long time, Hindus were seen as a support base for the deposed prime minister's party, the Awami League.

"Nobody in my family is involved in politics, it has nothing to do with Sheikh Hasina's departure, I just think our house was looted and ransacked because the opportunity presented itself," said Suborna Sharma Mukti, a 23-year-old Hindu student from Parbatipur in the north of the country whose family home was targeted. "Vandals ransacked it, we had eight cows, they were all stolen." In Dhaka, the capital, on Sunday, August 11, several hundred people like her had gathered for the third day in a row to call on the new interim government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus to take action.

According to a spokesperson for the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, violence has been reported in every district of the country. Most have targeted homes, stores and Hindu temples with varying degrees of severity. The organization, which works to protect the rights of minorities, has recorded three deaths across the country since the beginning of August.

Keeping a low profile

The house of renowned musician Rahul Ananda was also set on fire on Monday, August 5 in the Dhanmondi district of Dhaka. During his visit to Bangladesh in September 2023, Emmanuel Macron had visited the artist. Some Hindus are choosing to keep a low profile for fear of becoming targets.

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