Temples destroyed and persecuted: Hindu community faces wave of violent attacks in Bangladesh

The Hindu community in Bangladesh is facing a wave of targeted attacks following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is seen as a supporter of the country’s minority, according to a newspaper TelegraphAfter the ruler’s fall, homes, businesses and Hindu temples were looted and destroyed by mobs in at least 27 districts across the country. Two people were killed in the violence. One of the victims was Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee, a 65-year-old primary school teacher.

Reports of attacks and persecution of Hindu minorities first emerged after Sheikh Hasina, 76, fled Bangladesh on Monday, ending 15 years of rule. There are records of hundreds of Hindus trying to flee to India but being blocked by border officials.

Violent protests against the introduction of a quota system in the civil service have engulfed Bangladesh. At least 400 people are estimated to have died in the demonstrations. Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the midst of a student revolution. When it comes to the wave of violence against the Hindu community, the student group Anti-Discrimination Movement is distancing itself.

“The anti-discrimination movement is not involved in these attacks and has repeatedly spoken out against violence; its position is clear. We hope for a new Bangladesh without discrimination and non-sectarianism,” said Ala Uddin, a professor of anthropology at Chittagong University.

Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, also called for an end to the attacks in his first speech after landing in Dhaka, the capital. “Our responsibility is to protect everyone,” he said.

Hindus make up about 8% of Bangladesh’s 170 million population. Videos of violence against the people in the Asian country have been circulating on social media.