On the night of December 18, 2025, a 30-year-old Hindu garment factory worker named Dipu Chandra Das was confronted by an angry mob in Bhaluka Upazila’s Dubalia Para area, Square Master Bari, over unverified allegations that he had made derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a workplace event marking World Arabic Language Day.
The mob beat him to death around 9 PM, stripped his body, tied it to a tree, and set it ablaze. Reports indicate the charred remains were then dragged to the nearby Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, where they were burned again, causing traffic blockades and widespread panic in the area.
Police arrived very late, dispersed the crowd, recovered the body, and sent it to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for autopsy. As of now, no arrests have been made, and authorities are reportedly locating Das’s family to file a formal case. The incident occurred amid nationwide unrest triggered by the death of student activist Sharif Osman Hadi, with protests escalating into attacks on media offices, political properties, and cultural sites.
Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, swiftly condemned the killing as “heinous” and unacceptable, asserting there is “no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh” and pledging to bring perpetrators to justice. However, minority rights advocates and critics argue that such condemnations ring hollow amid a pattern of inadequate protection for non-Muslims since the political upheaval in 2024.
Escalating Vulnerability for Religious Minorities
This lynching is not an isolated event but part of a disturbing trend. Blasphemy accusations in Bangladesh—often spread rapidly via social media without evidence—frequently incite mob violence, disproportionately targeting minorities like Hindus, who face extrajudicial punishment in a system where formal blasphemy laws are absent but societal enforcement is brutal.
Human rights groups, including the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, have documented over 2,000 attacks on minorities since mid-2024, including temple vandalism, land grabs, forced conversions, and killings. A UN report from early 2025 confirmed dozens of targeted incidents against Hindus, debunking earlier claims by the Yunus administration that reports were “exaggerated propaganda.”
Critics, including opposition figures and international observers, accuse the interim government of failing to curb radical elements, with some alleging tacit encouragement of Islamist influences to consolidate power. Yunus, the Nobel laureate once hailed for promoting peace and microfinance, has faced scrutiny for downplaying minority persecution as politically motivated rather than communal. Minority leaders report that state institutions have been used to suppress voices advocating for Hindu rights, including the prolonged detention of figures like Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges.
Historical Decline of Minorities: Demographic Evidence of Persecution
The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh reflects decades of systemic marginalization. Pre-Partition (1941 census), Hindus comprised 28-33% of East Bengal’s population. Post-independence (1974), this fell to 13.5%. By 2011, it was 8.5%, and the 2022 census recorded 7.95%—a steady erosion attributed to violence-induced emigration, lower fertility rates, and discrimination.
In neighboring Pakistan, a similar trajectory saw Hindus drop from 15-20% pre-1947 to about 2% today. Scholars note that periodic communal violence, blasphemy mobs, and economic disenfranchisement drive “silent exodus,” with millions “missing” from expected demographic growth.
Broader Global Context: Islamist Extremism as a Persistent Threat
This incident not limited to South Asia but it’s a worldwide pattern of Islamist violence. Data from reputable sources like the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 and Fondapol highlight Islamist groups as dominant in recent global terrorism.
The GTI 2025 reports Islamic State (IS) as the deadliest group in 2024, responsible for more than 1,805 deaths across 22 countries, with peaks in Syria, DRC, and elsewhere.
Fondapol’s 1979-2024 study documents over 50,000 Islamist attacks causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, concentrated in Muslim-majority regions but spilling globally.
High-profile incidents include ISIS attacks, Boko Haram’s targeting of Nigerian Christians, UK grooming gangs (where perpetrators were disproportionately from Islamist communities).
Experts attribute this to ideological radicalization, political grievances, weak governance, and blasphemy vigilantism in some nations. Terrorism databases show Islamist-motivated attacks as a leading category in recent decades, though concentrated in conflict zones (over 90% of deaths).
No faith is monolithic, and extremism arises from complex socio-political factors. However, the disproportionate involvement of radical Islamist ideologies in mob justice, terrorism, and minority persecution—in places like Afghanistan (near-total erasure of non-Muslims), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and sporadic Western attacks—warrants introspection. Reforms urged include strengthening the rule of law, interfaith education, countering online radicalization, and international pressure on blasphemy mob impunity.
A Call for Reform and Tolerance
The horrific death of Dipu Chandra Das—lynched and desecrated over an unproven allegation—exposes the barbarity of unchecked vigilantism. It underscores the urgent need for Bangladesh’s leadership to prioritize impartial justice, deploy robust minority protections, and confront radical narratives head-on. Globally, while all religions have historical dark chapters, addressing why certain extremist interpretations dominate modern terrorism statistics is essential to prevent further expansion.
True compassion demands rejecting division based on faith. Reforming legal and social frameworks to uphold universal human rights—regardless of religion—offers the path forward. Otherwise, such “stone-age” intolerance risks engulfing more lives, eroding societies from within. Justice for Das and safeguards for all minorities are not optional; they are imperatives for a tolerant, modern world.