Dhaka, 1 December 2025 — The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) has issued one of its strongest alerts to date, warning that the systematic misuse of blasphemy allegations against minority citizens has reached an unprecedented and dangerous level. At a press conference held at the Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB), HRCBM leaders presented compiled documentation and district-level analysis on the rising misuse of blasphemy allegations. Drawing on verified incidents from across the country, they outlined how these accusations are increasingly used to intimidate minorities, justify mob violence, and criminalize ordinary citizens.
At the press conference, HRCBM presented its compiled documentation on the rising misuse of blasphemy allegations across the country. District-level case summaries and official records were discussed to illustrate how these accusations have shifted from isolated incidents to a widespread pattern of targeted persecution. The evidence made clear that blasphemy allegations are increasingly being weaponized, posing serious implications for minority safety, civic freedoms, and the rule of law in Bangladesh.
A Rising Trend of Manufactured Outrage
From January to November 2025, HRCBM documented 73 blasphemy-related incidents in 32 districts, revealing a disturbing national spread of cases. These include:
73 blasphemy-related incidents targeting minorities
40 formal cases filed (HRCBM collected case numbers after contacting local police stations)
5 cases where police refused to register complaints
5 students expelled from educational institutions
23 incidents still under investigation
A growing number of these accusations are based on fabricated digital content, including hacked Facebook accounts, doctored screenshots, or posts that cannot be verified at all. In many cases, HRCBM observed that police made arrests without conducting proper digital forensic analysis, leading to wrongful detentions and community-wide terror.
“Minority youths are repeatedly being targeted. Their social-media accounts are hacked, false posts are published, and within hours mobs attack their homes,” Advocate Bacchar stated. “This is not random chaos—this is a pattern.”
A data-driven district map presented at the briefing illustrated the geographic spread of such allegations, with clusters in Chattogram, Cumilla, Dinajpur, Chandpur, Lalmonirhat, Sunamganj, Faridpur, Narayanganj, Pirojpur, Khulna, and Gazipur. The map also depicted age profiles of the accused—ranging from 15- and 16-year-olds to elderly individuals, underscoring that victims are not limited to any single demographic group.
A Case Illustrating This Reality — The Elderly Barber of Lalmonirhat
One striking example of how blasphemy allegations are weaponized against the powerless is the case of Paresh Chandra Shil, a 69-year-old Hindu barber from Lalmonirhat. His only “offense” was asking a local Islamic cleric to pay a 10-taka haircut fee. The cleric retaliated by fabricating a blasphemy accusation, triggering a violent mob attack.
Paresh was brutally beaten, his small shop—the family’s only source of income—was destroyed, and his family was left traumatized and impoverished. Despite the absence of evidence, and despite witness testimonies exposing the cleric’s false accusation, no accountability measures were taken against the instigator.
This case exemplifies how blasphemy allegations function as tools of extortion, subjugation, and communal domination, not legitimate religious grievance.
🔗 Full documented case:
https://www.hrcbm.org/wp-new/bangladesh-elder-hindu-barber-falsely-accused-of-blasphemy-brutally-beaten-shop-destroyed-police-complicit-in-persecution/
When False Allegations Spark Violence
HRCBM highlighted multiple cases where accusations—later proven baseless—triggered mass violence:
• Shalla, Sunamganj
A hacked Facebook post led to the devastation of entire Hindu villages, looting, and the burning of homes—an incident still remembered as one of the most brutal attacks against minorities in recent years.
The video report by BBC Bangla — referenced below — corroborates local accounts, with victims claiming that over 400 homes belonging to minority families were looted and destroyed during the attack in Shalla, Sunamganj.
The video offers stark visual testimony to the scale of destruction and mass displacement — reinforcing HRCBM’s data-driven map of nationwide blasphemy-related violence.
• Gangachara, Rangpur
Following allegations against a 17-year-old Hindu boy, 22 minority homes were vandalized, displacing entire families overnight.
• Dacope, Khulna
Despite evidence that a Muslim man insulted the Hindu goddess Kali, it was the Hindu respondent, Purbayan Mondal, who was arrested. The actual perpetrator remains untouched.
• Gournadi, Barishal
Minor Hindu youths such as Saikat Biswas faced immediate arrest despite the absence of verified evidence.
• Moulvibazar, Faridpur, Chandpur, Cumilla
In districts such as Moulvibazar, Faridpur, Chandpur, and Cumilla, cases involving individuals like Bikash Dhar Dipto, Sagar Mondal, Shubho, and Narayan Das reveal a consistent and deeply troubling pattern: an allegation is raised, a mob quickly gathers, the minority individual is detained by police—often without proper verification—and violent attacks on minority homes and villages follow soon after.
Even when evidence is absent or contradictory, minority families face intimidation, forced displacement, and social ostracization.
Targeting Minority Youths: Breaking a Community’s Future
HRCBM highlighted that a large proportion of victims are youths — students, migrant workers, apprentices, or day-laborers. They are often the most digitally exposed, making them easier targets for fabricated screenshots, hacked social-media posts, or manipulated images.
By targeting the youngest members of minority families, perpetrators aim to:
Break community morale
Instill long-term fear
Discourage access to education and employment
Push families into economic ruin
Silence future leadership
"Accusing young people is a deliberate strategy — it collapses the confidence of the entire community" -
State Inaction and Humanitarian Neglect Are Deepening the Blasphemy Crisis
HRCBM warned that government inaction has emboldened fundamentalists, opportunists, and local power brokers to weaponize blasphemy allegations with impunity. When mobs face no consequences, fabricated complaints go unpunished, police arrest victims instead of perpetrators, and no compensation is provided to affected families, minorities are effectively marked as “fair game.”
Blasphemy is increasingly used not to defend religious sentiment but to settle personal disputes, financial disagreements, land grabbing attempts, business rivalries, and broader communal domination. This impunity has normalized a cycle of fear and intimidation across minority communities.
Equally alarming is the humanitarian vacuum that follows each attack. Despite extensive damage to homes, livelihoods, and community infrastructure, neither the State nor many NGOs receiving humanitarian funding provide adequate support. Families rebuild alone—only to face another allegation months later. Homes remain destroyed, businesses collapse, children drop out of school, and psychological trauma remains unaddressed.
“The continued misuse of blasphemy is tearing at the fabric of society,” HRCBM stated. “Silence and inaction are no longer acceptable.”
To address this worsening crisis, HRCBM called for urgent government intervention, including:
Mandatory cyber-forensic verification before any arrest in a blasphemy allegation.
Criminal prosecution of individuals who fabricate digital evidence or misuse blasphemy allegations.
Rapid police deployment to protect minority communities at the first sign of mob mobilisation.
Compensation and rehabilitation for affected families whose homes, businesses, or properties are destroyed.
Independent review of all blasphemy cases filed since 2024 involving minority citizens.
Training for law enforcement on mob prevention, digital verification, and human rights obligations.
Clear public condemnation by state authorities to deter mob justice and affirm constitutional equality.
HRCBM emphasized that without decisive State action, the weaponization of blasphemy will continue to endanger lives, erode rule of law, and undermine Bangladesh’s constitutional promises of equality and justice.
