Dhaka, June 20 (IANS) The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) on Friday highlighted a recent brutal communal attack in the country where more than 18 homes belonging to Hindu families were looted, vandalised, and set on fire in the southwestern Abhaynagar Upazila.
Demanding justice, the rights body submitted fresh evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC), alleging complicity at the highest levels of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.
The HRCBM revealed a harrowing series of images that showed the devastation left by the communal attack, including burned-out shells, collapsed structures, blackened walls, and scorched possessions of the minority Hindu community in the country.
The destruction, it stated, was inflicted by a mob from the local Muslim-majority population, and forced entire families to flee, leaving behind smoldering ruins and deserted village streets.
“The violence erupted late on May 24, 2025, after Torikul Islam, President of the opposition Krishak Dal in Jessore, was hacked and shot dead over a land dispute involving a fish enclosure. Though authorities initially linked the murder to personal and property tensions, the killing swiftly ignited communal violence,” the HRCBM stated.
“A mob drawn from the local Muslim-majority population targeted Hindu households in Dhor Moshihati village, looting valuables, burning granaries, stealing 31 cattle, and setting fire to 18 homes. A young Hindu nursing student, Sagar, was abducted during the violence and remains missing. The attack forced almost all Hindu families to flee in fear, leaving behind only the elderly and infirm,” it added.
Recalling the haunting night when terror consumed the Hindu community, the human rights organisation also expressed grave concern over a public statement made by Yunus in a social media post which was deleted later.
In the post, Yunus apparently blamed “some Hindu villagers” for the murder and characterised the violence as “retaliatory” over a business dispute, dismissing reports of targetted minority violence as “propaganda”.
The HRCBM in its supplementary submission to the ICC argued, “the statement rationalised communal violence against an identifiable group and the attack reflected a wider pattern of systemic persecution and impunity”.
Following the attack, the HRCBM visited Dhor Moshihati village to document the destruction, gather testimonies, and assess the immediate needs of displaced families.
“The team’s findings — including photographic evidence of the charred homes, looted properties, and empty granaries — formed the basis of HRCBM’s supplementary submission to the ICC. Survivors recounted their terror as the mob, drawn from the local Muslim-majority community, descended on their homes late at night, forcing them to flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” stated the human rights organisation.
Revealing the atrocities, the HRCBM mentioned that no police case (FIR) has been filed against the attackers so far, and also the fire service’s delayed response aggravated the destruction.
It further pointed out that none of the Bangladeshi NGOs receiving foreign funding and the UN office in Dhaka offered any legal or humanitarian assistance to the affected families.
“The Abhaynagar attack fits into a troubling pattern of communal violence in Bangladesh, where minorities — including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Ahmadiyyas, and Indigenous peoples — face periodic mass attacks, often with little accountability,” the HRCBM mentioned.
In its ICC submission, the human rights body called for an urgent preliminary examination into the incident and broader crimes against humanity targetting minorities.
The HRCBM demanded immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible for arson, looting, and abduction, justice in Torikul Islam’s murder without scapegoating minorities and rehabilitation and protection for displaced families. Additionally, it called for an inquiry into official negligence, including the fire service’s failures and international oversight to safeguard minority rights.
–IANS
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