New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) India on Friday said the Bangladesh interim government needs to deal firmly and swiftly with the rising incidents of communal attacks on minorities.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also noted that there has been “a troubling tendency to attribute such incidents to personal rivalries, political differences, or extraneous reasons”, which he said only emboldens the perpetrators.
The statement read:
“We continue to witness a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities as well as their homes and businesses by extremists.
“Such communal incidents need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly.
“We have observed a troubling tendency to attribute such incidents to personal rivalries, political differences, or extraneous reasons.
“Such disregard only emboldens the perpetrators, and deepens the sense of fear and insecurity among minorities.”
India’s statement comes days after the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council expressed deep anger, concern, and strong condemnation over the intensity of communal violence in Bangladesh, ahead of the parliamentary election.
It said in view of the rising incidents of communal violence in Bangladesh, the minority communities across the country are gripped by fear and uncertainty about the future.
Minorities have already become apprehensive about being able to cast their votes freely and without obstruction in the upcoming parliamentary election, it noted. The Unity Council said that communal miscreants are carrying out these heinous acts nationwide in order to forcibly prevent minorities from voting for their preferred candidates in the February election.
It urged the Yunus government and the election commission to take immediate and effective measures to stop these acts.
The parishad listed 51 incidents of violence against the minority communities in December 2025 alone, including 10 murders and 10 incidents of theft and robbery, 23 cases of forcible occupation, looting and arson involving homes, business establishments, temples and land, four cases of detention and torture on false allegations of religious blasphemy and being agent of RAW, one attempted rape and three incidents of physical assault.
It listed the incidents till January 6, 2026, including the brutal murder of businessman Khokan Chandra Das, in Shariatpur, two robberies at the homes of two Hindus; the looting of gold ornaments from a shop belonging to a Hindu gold trader Shubho Poddar; sexual assault on a Hindu widow; religious extremists demanded the removal of Annapurna Debnath, the Deputy Commissioner and retuning officer of Kurigram, branding her as fascist and a member of ISKCON; the murder of another Hindu businessman, Rana Pratap Bairagi, on Jan 5 who was shot dead and his throat slit. A Hindu grocery shop owner Moni Chakraborty was stabbed to death in Narsinghdi.
Many more such horrifying incidents have already taken place across Bangladesh, the complete details of which are yet to be obtained, it stated.
India had in December last year condemned the horrific mob lynching and burning of factory worker Dipu Chandra Das, 25, in Mymensingh, for alleged blasphemy, a charge which was proved false. It had turned out to be a case of vendetta by some disgruntled factory workers who wanted to settle a score with Das.
