New Delhi: The Rights & Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) has claimed that at least 15 minority Hindus have been murdered in Bangladesh over the past 45 days, raising serious concerns about the safety of minorities and the feasibility of their inclusive participation in the upcoming elections.
In a report released on Thursday, RRAG stated that between December 1, 2025, and January 15, 2026, “at least 15 minority Hindus were murdered by persons belonging to the majority Muslim community in Bangladesh, amounting to the killing of one Hindu every third day.”
The report listed the victims as Samir Das and Prolay Chaki (January 11, 2026); Joy Mohapatra (January 10); Mithun Sarkar and Sarat Mani Chakraborty (January 6); Rana Pratap Bairagi (January 5); Khokon Chandra Das (December 31, 2025); Bajendra Biswas (December 29); Amrit Mondal (December 24); Dipu Chandra Das (December 18); Shanto Chandra Das (December 12); Jogesh Chandra Roy and Suborna Roy (December 7); and Prantosh Kormokar and Utpol Sarkar (December 2).
“The murdered victims included elderly women like Suborna Roy and youths such as 18-year-old Shanta Chandra Das. All the cases were premeditated and often involved targeting the assets of the victims. In several instances, the murders were carried out by slitting throats,” RRAG Director Suhas Chakma alleged in a statement.
He further claimed that these killings represent only a fraction of the daily acts of violence allegedly being committed against Hindu and other minority communities in Bangladesh.
The report also criticised the interim government of Bangladesh, led by Chief Advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus, for allegedly dismissing the religious dimension of such attacks.
“This extreme vulnerability of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh now faces a new challenge. Unlike previous governments led by the Awami League or the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the interim government has been dismissing any religious angle to these attacks, often even before investigations are completed. Dr Yunus has been building a narrative that portrays the attacks on Hindu minorities as part of a disinformation campaign by India,” he added.
“Going a step further, on January 13, 2026, he approached UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk seeking technical assistance to address alleged disinformation campaigns during elections. As a result, attacks on Hindu minorities during the election period are likely to be dismissed as ‘disinformation campaigns’ in what are otherwise expected to be friendly elections between former alliance partners, the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami,” Chakma stated.
The organisation warned that once election campaigning begins on January 22, 2026, minorities—particularly Hindus—may face increased violence, which could be portrayed as political rather than communal in nature.
On January 11, 2026, Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Bangladesh, Ivars Ijabs, called for “inclusive and participatory” elections involving small ethnic communities and religious minority groups.
However, RRAG argued that in the current environment of alleged targeted attacks, Hindu minorities are unlikely to be able to participate freely in the electoral process unless the interim government acknowledges the situation and takes concrete steps to ensure their safety.
ALSO READ: Yunus wants AL to apologise: Will a sorry from Awami League pave the way for its electoral re-entry?
The organisation urged international stakeholders, including the European Union, to press the Bangladesh government to guarantee the protection and inclusive participation of Hindu and other minority communities, and to closely monitor incidents of violence during the election process.
