The Bangladesh government on Saturday quoted a police report as saying that most of the incidents against minority communities since August 4 last year were of ‘political nature’ and not ‘communal’. However, the claims of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government and the Bangladesh Police raise questions that if most of the incidents of violence were political and not communal, then why are the victims only Hindus and other minorities. The police have set up a helpline desk and also issued a WhatsApp number to receive direct complaints of communal violence and maintain contact with the minority community.
The press wing of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said here that the police investigation comes after the ‘Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’ recently claimed that communal violence had taken place a day before ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5. There were 2,010 incidents. Let us tell you that the student-led protests against the job quota system ended the 16-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.
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Only 20 out of 1,769 incidents were communal: Bangladesh
The office of Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, said in a statement that a total of 1,769 of these incidents were recorded as attacks and vandalism; The police have so far registered 62 cases based on the claims and have arrested at least 35 culprits based on the investigation. The police investigation found that 1,234 incidents were of ‘political nature’, 20 incidents were communal and at least 161 claims were found to be false or untrue.
According to the claims of ‘Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’, 1,452 incidents – or 82.8 per cent of the total claims – took place on August 5, 2024, when Hasina was ousted from power. At least 65 incidents occurred on 4 August and 70 incidents occurred on 6 August. Police received 134 complaints of communal violence from August 5 to January 8, 2025. The police responded to all those complaints with utmost importance. At least 53 cases were registered and 65 criminals were arrested.
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100 people have been arrested since August 4, 2024
“Overall, a total of 115 cases were registered on complaints of communal attacks since August 4 and at least 100 people were arrested,” the statement said. Before preparing the report, Bangladesh Police collected the list of allegations prepared by the ‘Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’ (and) communicated with the individuals who were claimed to be the targets of violence. Apart from this, the police visited every place and establishment which were mentioned in the council’s report.
Bangladesh Police has now set up a WhatsApp number to receive allegations of communal violence and maintain constant contact with minority community leaders. The interim government of Bangladesh said in a statement that we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any communal attack in the country and the police have been ordered to arrest the culprits. It also announced that it would compensate the victims. Let us tell you that in the last few months, there have been many cases of attacks on other minorities including Hindus in Bangladesh as well as damage to their religious places and business establishments and properties. India had expressed deep concern over these incidents.
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India had expressed concern over the incidents in Bangladesh
The arrest of Hindu saint Chinmoy Prabhu on treason charges added to India’s concerns, which Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had conveyed to the interim government during his visit to Dhaka in December. Ahead of Misri’s visit, interim government chief Yunus had sought cooperation from religious leaders to gather accurate information about attacks on minorities and bring the perpetrators to justice amid reports of attacks on Hindus on December 5.
In a separate statement, Muhammad Yunus’ press wing on Friday said police in north-western Natore district arrested the main accused in the murder of a 60-year-old Hindu man at a crematorium on December 21, 2024. Citing the report of the police headquarters, the statement said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the victim was physically ill for a long time and was living at ‘Harishpur cremation ground’ for the last several days. The statement said that the arrested 24-year-old Sabuj Hussain has confessed to his involvement in the murder along with some associates. Preliminary investigation also revealed that the criminals had also strangulated Tarun Chandra Das to death because the criminals were stealing some bronze plates from the cremation ground and had raised the alarm.
