As Bangladesh hurtles toward parliamentary elections amid a toxic swirl of communal violence and disinformation, the Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP) has unleashed a fierce rebuke against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Harunur Rashid Harun for branding Hindus as “devils” during a campaign rally.
The November 15 outburst, delivered in the presence of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at Chapainawabganj-3’s government college ground, didn’t stop at the slurโHarun escalated by declaring that Hindusโ worship is “the worship of Satan.”
BHBCOP’s acting general secretary, Manindra Kumar Nath, slammed the remarks as “provocative, destructive to communal harmony, racist, and a flagrant violation of the election code,” clashing head-on with the BNP’s proclaimed “Rainbow Society” ethos.
The group has fired off demands for swift action: the government and Election Commission must prosecute Harun for this “blasphemous” tirade, while BNP brass should yank his candidacy entirely. “Such venom has no place in our democracy,” Nath’s statement thundered, echoing a chorus of minority anguish as radical Islamist factionsโemboldened by what critics call tacit state patronageโramp up a relentless assault on Hindus and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
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This incident lands like a grenade in a powder keg already primed by a surge in orchestrated hate. Just weeks ago, on October 29, the Minority Oikya Morchaโa powerhouse alliance of over 40 rights groupsโissued a blistering joint statement blasting the Yunus interim government’s “mysterious silence” on spiralling attacks.
They accused hardline outfits like Hefazat-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), and shadowy jihadist cells of engineering a “sophisticated campaign of disinformation” aimed at purging Hindus from the nation. The trigger? The bizarre October discovery of Mufti Mohammad Mohibullah MiyajiโGazipur’s TNT BTCL Colony Jame Mosque clericโtied naked to a tree in Panchagarh’s Helipad Bazar. Instead of a neutral probe, radicals hijacked the narrative, pinning blame on ISKCON and howling for its outright ban, despite the group’s global stature and longstanding Bangladeshi footprint.
“Rumours are being spread more dangerously than ever before,” the Morcha warned, “with the explicit aim of making Bangladesh devoid of minorities.” The fallout has been brutal: temples torched and idols smashed in synchronised raids across districts, Hindu homes daubed with ominous markings, and families fleeing under the cover of night. Local cops have shrugged off reports or flat-out denied them, shredding what’s left of minority faith in the state.
Sanjib Drong, general secretary of the Bangladesh Adivasi Forum and a Morcha signatory, didn’t mince words: “This isnโt spontaneous angerโitโs a calculated campaign with political backing,” fingering madrasa powerbrokers and online troll farms shielded by the regime’s fear of alienating Islamist voters.
The venom has spilt beyond borders, with jihadist firebrands issuing bald-faced threats of holy war against India. At a New York gathering last month, Jamaat-e-Islami heavyweight Syed Mohammad Taher rattled sabres, vowing “jihad against India” if perceived slightsโlike satirical jabs at interim leader Muhammad Yunus or disputes over border pactsโaren’t quashed. Echoing this belligerence, Bangladeshi militants have flooded social media with calls to “export jihad” across the frontier, framing it as payback for India’s sheltering of Hindu refugees and alleged meddling in Dhaka’s affairs.
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These rants, amplified by NCP and Hefazat mouthpieces, dovetail with domestic purges: ISKCON devotees roughed up after police cleared two Hindus of trumped-up rape charges, and absurd cultural erasures like censoring Mahishasura’s beard in textbooksโmoves slammed as “Yunus satire” that only stoke outrage.
Global watchdogs have piled on. UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion Clรฉment Nyaletsossi Voule has torched the Yunus setup for coddling Islamist sway while minorities bleed. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, long chroniclers of Bangladesh’s minority woes, flag these flare-ups as hallmarks of shaky political handovers.
Domestically, the Revolutionary and Republican Alliance Group (RRAG) has skewered Yunus for “patronising militants” and greenlighting minority hunts, while rights outfits decry his outright denial of communal clashes. Even foreign policy fumblesโlike Asif Mahmud’s bogus list of India dealsโfeed the frenzy.
In response, the Morcha slapped down a five-point ultimatum: slam the brakes on anti-minority violence; launch an unbiased Mufti probe sans ISKCON scapegoating; shield temples and homes coast-to-coast; smash online hate mills; and force officials to publicly disavow the bigotry. They’ve roped in civil society, opposition parties, and journalists to dismantle what they dub a “dangerous nexus of religious extremism and political opportunism.”
Activists assert that Harun’s “devil” remark highlights a stark reality: Bangladesh’s minorities are not merely collateral damage in an election battle, but rather prime targets in a jihadist strategy sanctioned by higher authorities. As polls approach, the question is not whether tensions will escalate, but rather how many more suffer before the regime becomes aware of the situation.
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