NEW DELHI — Bangladesh’s interim government said on Monday that most incidents involving minority communities in 2025 were “criminal in nature” rather than driven by communal animus.
The statement issued by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ Press Wing followed India’s January 9 call for Dhaka to “swiftly and firmly” tackle attacks on minorities, after New Delhi described as “troubling” the attempts to pin recent violence on “extraneous reasons”. India’s reaction came in the wake of several Hindu citizens being killed in Bangladesh in recent weeks.
Drawing on what it described as a yearlong review of police data, the office of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus reported that 645 incidents concerning minority communities were logged nationwide between January and December 2025. “While every incident is a matter of concern, the data presents a clear and evidence-based picture: the overwhelming majority of cases were criminal in nature rather than communal,” the statement said.
These included 38 cases of temple vandalism, eight of arson, one of theft, one murder and 23 other incidents such as threats to break idols, provocative social media posts and damage to worship pavilions.
Police cases were filed in 50 of these incidents, and arrests were made in an equal number, while other preventive or investigative measures were taken in 21 cases, the statement said.
The remaining 574 incidents were linked to criminal or social disputes unrelated to religion, including neighbourhood disputes (51), land-related conflicts (23), theft (106), prior personal enmity (26), rape (58) and 172 cases of unnatural death.
Police registered 390 cases in this category, filed 154 unnatural death reports and made 498 arrests, with additional measures taken in 30 incidents.
The interim government said the report “does not deny challenges, nor does it claim perfection; rather, it seeks to provide a factual, evidence-based picture of crime trends affecting minority communities within the broader national context”.
It argued that “while all crimes are serious and demand accountability, the data demonstrates that most incidents involving minority victims were not driven by communal hostility, but by broader criminal and social factors that affect citizens across religious and ethnic lines”.
The figures, however, have not convinced everyone. Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) leader Kajal Debnath challenged the government’s categorisation of many cases as “non-communal”, asking, “If the government thinks these are not communal incidents, the question then is whether anyone can take the law into their own hands.” Debnath warned that such framing could embolden wrongdoers and create a sense of impunity.
The Council said it has recorded 51 incidents of communal violence in December 2025 alone.
The interim government in the statement reiterated that ensuring safety and justice for all citizens, including Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and people of other beliefs, remains a constitutional and moral obligation.
According to the 2022 census, Hindus number roughly 13.13 million (7.95 per cent of the population), Buddhists about 1.01 million (0.61 per cent), Christians nearly 500,000 and other smaller faiths, including Sikh and Animist groups, around 200,000 (0.12 per cent). — With inputs from PTI
