Dhaka, Oct 8 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Awami League on Thursday expressed serious concern over the safety of minority communities across the country, questioning how much a minority life is worth when an entire Hindu family can be wiped out, and no clear answers emerge even a month and a half later.
The party said that in this grim atmosphere, people are being told Durga Puja will take place, while there are no decorations at temples in Bangladesh.
It said that children have not bought new clothes, and quoted an elderly woman as saying, “Only God knows what might happen next”.
Against such a backdrop, the Awami League said that “talking about celebration is not a source of reassurance. It is, instead, a matter of profound shame.”
Citing the killing of retired Hindu teacher Ganapati Chakraborty and his entire family in Rangpur city in August, the party said the case, according to the police, should have “practically” been solved by now.
“But the DNA test results have still not arrived, and not a single report has been received for any of the 35 different pieces of evidence collected from the scene. Meanwhile, the very people living in the neighborhood, who have been directly affected by the tragedy, say they have absolutely no confidence in the police version of events. Even the victims’ relatives do not believe that two people could have strangled four members of the family one by one,” it added.
Slamming the BNP government and opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, the Awami League questioned the credibility of the probe, saying why people were still living in fear if the case had truly been resolved, and why not a single laboratory report had been produced even after a month and a half if the matter remained unresolved.
“Police are now stationed at the house where the killings took place, and no one is allowed to enter without permission from senior authorities. Yet, after a meeting, the district administration said that all necessary measures had been taken. A local Hindu homemaker said she does not believe the administration is capable of providing full security. One resident said that in the beginning, there was a constant presence of police and journalists, but now everyone has fallen silent. It is this silence that raises the biggest questions,” the party stated.
Last week, citing 44 reported minority deaths in six months, attacks on temples and homes, hundreds of alleged human rights violations, and the killing of four members of a Hindu family in Rangpur, the Awami League said that these incidents have intensified fears among Bangladesh’s minorities.
“For Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s new government, promises of equality must now be measured against what happens to vulnerable citizens on the ground. Bangladesh’s religious and ethnic minorities entered 2026 with unresolved fears about their safety. The change of government has not erased them,” it noted.
Bangladesh has witnessed relentless attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, during the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, an alarming trend that has persisted under the ruling BNP administration.
–IANS
scor/as
