Recent reports from Bangladesh have sparked widespread debate, as researchers critically examine claims of religiously motivated violence following the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Various social and mainstream media outlets have reported that the country’s Hindu minority was targeted because of their faith, a narrative that has gained traction internationally, particularly in remote outlets in Germany and the UK. For instance, on August 7, The Guardian highlighted a surge in images on Indian social media depicting violence against Hindus, including mob killings, temple burnings, and looting of businesses.
These alarming reports have resonated strongly in the United States as well. Bangladeshi-American Hindus in Detroit staged marches holding banners that read “Stop Killing Hindus.” Additionally, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna called on the U.S. government to take measures to protect Hindus in Bangladesh via social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The issue has also been particularly pronounced in India, where right-wing Hindu groups organized rallies in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, protesting what they described as “sectarian attacks by Islamists on Hindus.”
However, a deeper investigation into the incidents reveals a more complex reality. While it is clear that mob violence did result in deaths and the destruction of property, fact-checkers in Bangladesh have presented a different perspective. A thorough analysis by Bangladeshi investigators suggests that most of the victims were targeted not because of their religion but due to their affiliation with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, a party that faced widespread resentment.
Hindus in Bangladesh had largely supported Hasina and her party, which maintained close ties with India. Minhaj Aman, head of the research team at the Dhaka-based fact-checking organization Dismiss Lab, explained in a telephone interview with Voice of America that “after Sheikh Hasina’s downfall, people vented their anger on both Muslim and Hindu members of her party. As a result, mobs attacked some Hindu households, but these attacks were politically motivated.”
Further corroborating this viewpoint, Kaderuddin Shishir, an investigative fact-checker associated with a French news agency in Bangladesh, pointed out that some individuals within the mobs may have targeted certain homes merely to loot or steal, similar to the actions of petty criminals. “But the majority of the attacks were politically driven, targeting both Muslims and Hindus associated with the Awami League. These attacks were not motivated by religious reasons,” Shishir emphasized.
The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, a coalition of nearly two dozen Hindu religious organizations, has also acknowledged the absence of religious motives in these attacks. According to the alliance’s collected data, mobs vandalized 278 properties belonging to Hindus. However, its Secretary General, Govinda Pramanik, told VOA that after August 5, the mobs launched “five to seven times more” attacks on Muslim households that supported the Awami League.
Pramanik added that “almost all the attacks were politically motivated. Indian media incorrectly portrayed them as sectarian, anti-Hindu attacks. There is no communal tension between Muslims and Hindus in Bangladesh.” He noted that “some Hindus expressed concern for the safety of many temples in the days following August 5, but our Muslim brothers stood guard outside many Hindu temples across the country.”
Some of the most sensational images and reports that emerged from the riots have been found to be inaccurate or misleading. For example, the Indian outlet Republic TV broadcasted a video of a temple in Chittagong, claiming it had been set on fire by “Islamists in Bangladesh.” However, Dismiss Lab’s fact-checkers debunked this report, stating that the temple had not been attacked. Instead, furniture from a nearby Awami League office had been set ablaze, and the rumor of a fire at the temple was baseless.
In another viral post on the social media platform X, a video showing a burning house was shared as “evidence” that a mob had set fire to the home of Hindu cricketer Liton Das. Shishir clarified that upon fact-checking, it was discovered that the burning house actually belonged to a Muslim former cricketer, Mashrafe Mortaza, who is also an Awami League member of parliament.
This investigation highlights the need for careful scrutiny of reports and emphasizes the political, rather than religious, nature of the violence in Bangladesh.
(Report by Sheikh Azizur Rahman, courtesy of Voice of America)
