At least 15 members of the Hindu minority were allegedly killed in Bangladesh over a 45-day period, according to the Rights & Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) on Thursday, raising grave doubts about the viability of inclusive and participatory elections in the nation. The RRAG said on Thursday that, on average, one Hindu was slain every third day between December 1, 2025, and January 15, 2026. The group claimed that members of the majority Muslim community were responsible for the victims’ deaths.
Samir Das and Prolay Chaki (January 11), Joy Mohapatra (January 10), Mithun Sarkar and Sarat Mani Chakraborty (January 6), Rana Pratap Bairagi (January 5), 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).
According to RRAG Director Suhas Chakma, the victims included young individuals like 18-year-old Shanto Chandra Das and elderly people like Suborna Roy. He said that the murders were planned and, in many instances, connected to the theft or confiscation of property, including some of the victims’ autorickshaws. Chakma said that several of the killings were committed by cutting the victims’ necks in a “Taliban-style” way. According to Chakma, “these killings are just the tip of the iceberg because daily acts of violence against Hindus and other minorities throughout Bangladesh frequently go unreported in the media.” Additionally, the RRAG accused Bangladesh’s interim administration, headed by Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, of continuously downplaying the religious aspect of attacks on Hindu minority. The organization claims that even before investigations are finished, the interim administration has referred to such instances as political violence or misinformation. Chakma also claimed that Dr. Yunus attempted to portray attacks on Hindu minority as a component of India’s misinformation strategy. He mentioned that on January 13, 2026, Dr. Yunus met with Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to request technological support to combat misinformation during elections.
The RRAG issued a warning that minority groups, especially Hindus, may experience “unprecedented violence” as a result of their religious identity once election campaigning starts on January 22, 2026. It said that, as was done after widespread attacks on Hindu minority in August 2024, such attacks may once more be written off as political violence. The declaration was made a few days after Ivars Ijabs, Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Bangladesh, demanded on January 11 that elections be “inclusive” and “participatory,” engaging regional groupings, religious minorities, and ethnic communities. According to RRAG, unless the interim government recognizes the religious roots of the assaults and takes proactive measures to guarantee their safety, Hindu minority are unlikely to be able to constructively engage in the election process given the current climate of violence.The organization called on international stakeholders, such as the European Union and other election observer organizations, to work with Bangladesh’s interim government to guarantee Hindu and other minority communities’ inclusive participation and to keep a close eye on instances of violence against indigenous peoples, ethnic groups, and religious minorities during the election period.