Bangladesh protests threaten safety of religious minorities as temples burned, homes ransacked

Bangladesh has descended into chaos following the shock departure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, with religious minorities targeted as riots spread throughout the country. 

"You people are descendants of the Awami League! This country is in a bad shape because of you. You should leave the country," a mob shouted at Hindu residents of a mixed neighborhood, the BBC reported. 

Crowds gathered over the weekend to express intense anger at the economic turmoil that much of the country has suffered. Many believe that elites who aligned with the ruling Awami League party, however, have prospered in this time, giving way to deep anti-government sentiment. 

Those sentiments came to a head on Monday when protesters ransacked Hasina’s official residence, her party offices and a museum dedicated to her father, while Hasina resigned and fled to neighboring India. 

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The country has a makeup of 90% Muslims, with the rest of the population largely Hindu and very small pockets, around 5% each, of Buddhists and Christians. The ruling Awami League party, which Hasina led, is a secular group, but rivals often view Hindus as their supporters – making them prime targets for their anger in the wake of the prime minister’s flight. 

A crackdown on the protests prior to Hasina's departure led to the deaths of over 200 people, which only inflamed the protests and strengthened resolve, The New York Times reported. 

The U.S. State Department urged Americans to avoid traveling to the country as civil unrest continues, going so far as to order all non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to flee on Monday as protests grew more severe. 

"Travelers should not travel to Bangladesh due to ongoing civil unrest in Dhaka," the State Department wrote in the advisory. "Violent clashes have occurred in the city of Dhaka, its neighboring areas, and throughout Bangladesh, and the Bangladeshi Army is deployed nationwide."

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Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday that India remained "particularly" worried about the "minorities, their businesses and temples also… under attack at multiple locations. The full extent of this is still not clear." 

"We are also monitoring the situation with regard to the status of minorities," Jaishankar said. "There are reports of initiatives by various groups and organizations to ensure their protection and well-being. We welcome that, but will naturally remain deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored."

The organization Open Doors, which tracks discrimination of Christians worldwide, ranked Bangladesh as having "very high" persecution levels, claiming that "converts to Christianity face the most severe restrictions, discrimination and attacks."

"Religious beliefs are tied to the identity of the community, so turning from the locally dominant faith to following Jesus can result in accusations of betrayal," the group wrote on its website. "Bangladeshi converts often gather in small house churches due to the risk of attack."

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The Hindu reported that Hindu businesses and homes were targeted in the violence – at least 97 places on Monday and Tuesday "attacked, vandalized and looted," according to Rana Dasgupta, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council. 

At least 10 Hindu temples were attacked on Monday, the council said, which raised concerns among European Union diplomats who expressed great concern over "reports of multiple attacks against places of worship and members of religious, ethnic and other minorities in Bangladesh." 

"We urgently appeal to all parties to exercise restraint, reject communal violence and uphold the human rights of all Bangladeshis," EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley wrote on social media platform X.

Hundreds of people were killed as Bangladeshi security forces cracked down on the demonstrations – violence that only fueled them, even after the quota system was dramatically scaled back.

It showed that her government "wildly underestimated just how much anger there was among the public, and the sources of the anger which went beyond the issue of job quotas," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.