The Hindu Genocide in Bangladesh Amidst Global Disinformation and Denials

[T]he bloody massacre in Bangladesh caused Allende to be forgotten, the din of war in the Sinai Desert drowned out the groans of Bangladesh, . . . and so on, and on and on, until everyone has completely forgotten everything. —MILAN KUNDERA, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

An evil so demonic and unimaginable has been unleashed on those who have only looked for unity in all that underlines this existence.

You see, it is easy to believe in something and use that fanaticism to create armies.

Profit is not made nor power asserted with the dissolution of one's self in the beauty of a rose. That can only be done by creating customized flowers that are raised and straightened by poison.

Hindus, like the Pagans and the Gnostics of the past, carry the seed of holistic spiritual practices. They do not want power. They do not want the heavens or the pleasures that stem from it for they are fleeting.

They look for the dissolution of their temporary existence into the eternal whole.

That needs a sensitivity that is vulnerable.

In that vulnerability lies their entire wisdom. And their destruction.

Art, real art, cannot kill. Or profit. What profits is hardly art.

What has been unleashed on the Hindus in their land of origin by those who have hated a Hindu's sensitive way of living is by far the darkest chapter in humanity.

Millions were killed by the Jihadis over the last hundreds of years, but what has been done in the last 100 years is beyond description.

Its barbarism, its scale and the utter ruthlessness is unparalleled in human history.

Hitler killed 6 million Jews over 12 years (1933-45). Churchill killed roughly 4 million Indians, mostly Hindus, in 8 months (March to October 1943). What Churchill did to Indians in 8 months, Hitler did to Jews in 8 years!

Yet, one is a villain (rightly so) and the other is a hero.

Today, we share the details. They are very tough to go through - much tougher to piece together and express though.

But imperative to remember.

For the evil continues.

With the blessings of those who sell justice, equality and the rest of it all.

That is the most egregious part of this betrayal and a genocide unmatched in its ferocity and denial.

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The Chants of the Burned Devotees

Chants of "Jai Maa Kali" were loud and strong. They slowly faded off. The dying, being burned alive in their own temple were calling out loud in their devotion for one last time before the fire engulfed them.

The Ramna Kali Mandir stood for centuries consecrated by the enlightened and kept alive by the devotion who had kept their heritage alive.

Its ancient walls, echoing the chants and prayers of generations, bore witness to the rhythms of life.

The celebrations, the sorrows, the quiet moments of faith.

This 700-year-old temple was more than a structure; it was the heart of a community, a place where Hindu families gathered under its sacred roof to find solace and strength.

But on the night of March 28, 1971, devils came in and ripped everything off.

The air that once resonated with the soothing hum of prayers was shattered by the crackle of gunfire and the anguished screams of the innocent. Under the shadow of Operation Searchlight, a campaign as cold and calculated as it was brutal, the Pakistani Army descended upon the Ramna Kali Mandir with merciless intent. What followed was not merely a massacre — it was a deliberate attempt to annihilate a people, their culture, their history.

Over 250 men, women, and children, who had lived around the temple, were hunted down and executed. Mercilessly.

The temple, a refuge for the devout, became a fiery tomb for over 100 worshippers who sought its sanctuary. The flames consumed not just the wooden beams and stone walls but the very hopes and identities of those who had placed their trust in the divine protection of this sacred space.

The priest of the temple, a custodian of its spiritual legacy, was bound and burned alive at the altar—a chilling act of desecration that seemed crafted to break the spirit of a community. The smell of charred flesh mingled with the acrid smoke of burning offerings, creating a scene of horror that defied comprehension.

The Ramna massacre was not an isolated incident, you see.

It was part of a broader campaign to annihilate the Bengali Hindu population.

A genocide.

This massacre contributed to the displacement of millions of Hindus, with many fleeing to India for safety. It also underscored the Pakistani military’s strategy of combining physical extermination with cultural destruction.

However, unlike the genocide of the Jews, the Hindu massacres and genocide have been almost completely ignored!

The historical erasure of such atrocities has marginalized the memories of victims and survivors, perpetuating an incomplete narrative of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Let us start our journey with the most horrific details of an evil rarely imagined but brought upon Hindus with terrible ferocity!

The Rape Camps

In the dead of night, a truck screeched to a halt in a desolate wasteland. Its doors swung open, spilling out the shadows of women—countless, frail, bound. They emerged like ghosts, their silence screaming of horrors untold.

The soldiers moved quickly.

Efficient. Mechanical.

Herding them into lines, sorting them like cattle. Age was the criterion. Age decided life. Or something worse.

The older ones—deemed barren—were executed without hesitation. A bullet. A fall. Forgotten. The younger ones - their fate was darker.

A chilling directive cut through the night: “These women have to be impregnated.”

They were loaded back into the abyss of the truck. But this time, they weren’t women. They were vessels. The destination was a Rape Camp. A factory of torment. A place where motherhood was weaponized. Where humanity was stripped away. Where wombs became battlefields.

The air was thick with fear. With despair. With a silence that would haunt eternity.

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The targeting of women was even more severe.

Narrating the atrocities in Dhaka University, the U.S. Consulate in Dhaka reported that naked female bodies were found “hanging from ceiling fans with bits of rope” in the university’s Rokeya Hall; the women had been “raped, shot, and hung by heels”. (Source: "In East Pakistan in 1971: A ‘forgotten’ genocide" / Frontline magazine)

Aubrey Menen also discussed the rapes by the Pakistani army criminals. Read about that in this article in the New York Times.

Here is a poignant extract that shows the demonic ways of the Pakistanis from that article.

In fact, the Pakistani "Army" (it is better to call them a group of War Criminals), set up "Rape Camps" in their cantonments.

Salma Sobhan, an activist and scholar, documented that from the initial stages of the conflict, the Pakistan Army boasted about its opportunity to “convert East Pakistan through engendering true Muslims” – meaning forced impregnation. Yahya’s order to make Muslims out of Bengalis was carried out most cruelly and literally during the nine months of conflict, when an estimated 200,000 women and children were systematically subjected to rape. Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators raped women in their homes, in their local areas, or even forcibly took them to ‘rape camps’. In this process, there were various lists created of names and numbers, which many social workers talked about with this writer. Many of those lists were deliberately burned by the post-war government in 1972, and the remaining lists were all destroyed during 1978-80 and again in 1985-86 by subsequent governments.  Besides forced impregnation, there were other rationales for widespread rape, as well. The army used rape to terrorise the populace, to extract information about the insurgency, to boost the morale of soldiers, and to crush the burgeoning Bangladeshi national identity. In addition, the Pakistan Army’s local militia, known as the Razakaar and al-Badr, used rape to terrorise, in particular the Hindu population, and to gain access to its land and property. (Source: Victory's Silence by Bina D'Costa)

The scale of the crime was unprecedented. It would far surpass the rapes of the Chinese women by the Japanese soldiers or the rapes in the Bosnia war.

The numbers are in dispute, but the story they tell has remained the same for four decades: 200,000 women (or 300,000, or 400,000, depending on the source) raped during the 1971 war in which East Pakistan broke with West Pakistan to become Bangladesh. The American feminist Susan Brownmiller, quoting all three sets of statistics in her 1975 book “Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape,” compared the rapes of Bangladesh with the rapes of Chinese women by Japanese soldiers at Nanjing in 1937-38. Accepting even the lowest set of figures for Bangladesh forces a horrifying comparison — the 1992-95 Bosnian war saw one-tenth the number of rapes as did the Bangladesh war. The rapes of Bosnian women forced the world to recognize rape as “an instrument of terror,” as a crime against humanity. But so far no one has been held to account for the sexual violence against Bangladeshi women in 1971. (Source: Bangladesh War’s Toll on Women Still Undiscussed / New York Times)

The barbarity would shame anyone with even a bit of conscience!

In her influential work Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, journalist and feminist author Susan Brownmiller detailed harrowing accounts of sexual violence, including reports of women being subjected to rape up to 80 times in a single night.

It is even impossible to imagine such barbarity!

Source: Against our will : men, women, and rape by Susan Brownmiller (pg 82-83)

Anushay Hossain writes in "The Real Kashmir" on how women were treated by the Pakistani War Criminal Army.  

Source: "1971 Rapes: Bangladesh Cannot Hide History" / Anushay Hossain

Please read the above - the last para (voice of Dr. Geoffrey Davis) again.  What do you make of such war criminals?

Demonic.  Without any conscience.  Right?

Any human would at least have some realization at some time about the extent of his crime and the depths of his depravations.

Pakistani Army Generals had no idea as to why anyone would even consider those sexual terrorist acts as a crime!

Source: 1971: Rape and its consequences / BDNews

This is very instructive.  

The barbarians were tone-deaf!

The Hindu Genocide - Scale, Barbarity and the Villains

The Hindu Genocide in Bangladesh was documented in various sources, including “Death by Government” by R.J. Rummel and “The Blood Telegram” by Gary J. Bass. Archer Blood, the U.S. Consul General in Dhaka at the time, and journalist Anthony Mascarenhas later detailed the Pakistani Army's systematic targeting of Hindus.

Source: Source: Death by Government, By R.J. Rummel New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1994

On March 28th, 1971, a telegram from the US Consul General in Dacca to Washington outlined the grim situation unfolding in Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, in the wake of the Pakistan Army's brutal crackdown on March 25th, known as "Operation Searchlight." The operation was launched to suppress the growing independence movement led by the Awami League and its leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the general elections of 1970, in which the League secured a majority.

The telegram detailed the escalating violence, including reports of widespread massacres targeting civilians, particularly members of the Bengali Hindu community and supporters of the Awami League. Entire neighborhoods in Dacca were razed, the University of Dacca was attacked, and students, faculty, and others were systematically executed. The military’s actions, as the telegram noted, were aimed at dismantling the intellectual and political foundation of Bengali nationalism.

The Consul General's account highlighted the Pakistan Army’s premeditated campaign of ethnic and political cleansing, with Hindu communities disproportionately targeted for elimination. This strategy was part of the larger plan to suppress Bengali identity and independence aspirations. The report underscored the enormity of the humanitarian crisis, with thousands of refugees fleeing to India, seeking safety from the violence.

This communication played a pivotal role in informing the US State Department of the unfolding genocide in East Pakistan. However, due to Cold War geopolitics and Pakistan's strategic alignment with the US and China, the American response was largely muted, leading to criticism of its perceived complicity in the tragedy. The events described in this telegram would later be recognized as the beginning of one of the most horrific genocides of the 20th century, culminating in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the eventual independence of Bangladesh in December 1971.

Source: Archives of George Washington University (link to the pdf)

The genocidal situation was allowed to be developed by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in collaboration with Pakistan's General Yahya Khan deliberately.

When the consulate staff could not reconcile their moral disgust of what was going on with the implicit American Government policy, the staff sent a telegram of dissent titled "Dissent from the US Policy toward East Pakistan".

Source: Office of the Historian / US Department of State

This dissent was heard loud and clear by the top leadership in Washington DC.

Here is an instructive conversation between US President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Please do remember that Kissinger was one of those German Jews; at least thirteen of his close relatives had been murdered in the Holocaust. And yet, his moral compass was broken as he could throw others, in this case Hindus right into the same genocidal state as his family had gone through! (As we have seen earlier, Nixon and Kissinger in collaboration with Yahya Khan had also started the bloody Khalistan movement)

Please note how both Nixon and Kissinger do understand and realize that what was going on in Bangladesh was akin to the Jewish holocaust in its magnitude and perversity!

Source: "Looking away from Genocide" by Gary Bass / New Yorker

Even though the original target of Operation Searchlight may have been the Awami League and supporters of Muhibur Rahman, the real targets became the Hindus and Muslims who aligned with the Hindus.

That Hindus were being overwhelmingly targeted was shared not just by the Consul General Archer Blood (whom Kissinger would call “this maniac in Dacca, the Consul General who is in rebellion.”) but also by an NGO official Desaix Myers who personally visited many remote areas to document the crimes.

Source: The Blood Telegram : Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide by Gary Bass

The strongest evidence of the Hindu Genocide was how the Hindus were singled out and massacred. Very similar to the genocidal techniques used by the Nazis against the Jews.

Anthony Mascarenhas, in The Sunday Times (London) on June 13, 1971, described harrowing accounts of how the army used brutality to achieve ethnic and cultural cleansing.

“I saw Hindus, hunted from village to village and door to door, shot off-hand after a cursory ‘short-arm inspection’ showed they were uncircumcised. I have heard the screams of men bludgeoned to death in the compound of the Circuit House (civil administrative headquarters) in Comilla. I have seen truckloads of other human targets and those who had the humanity to try to help them hauled off ‘for disposal’ under the cover of darkness and curfew.” (Anthony Mascarenhas in The Sunday Times, London on 13 June 1971

Here are two major articles written by Anthony Mascarenhas for The Sunday Times in a pdf format.

The involvement of the Pakistani Generals and their genocidal mindset was clearly and openly on display.

During Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971, the Pakistani Army unleashed a reign of terror that redefined brutality. Among the grotesque tools of genocide, circumcision became a grotesque marker of life or death. Pakistani soldiers used this intimate identifier to single out Hindus—a calculated, cold-blooded method to systematize mass murder.

Anthony Mascarenhas, a courageous Pakistani journalist who broke ranks to expose these atrocities, documented the horrors with harrowing clarity. Hindu men were dragged out of their homes, stripped, and subjected to a grim “inspection.” If found uncircumcised, the verdict was swift and final: execution. A single physical trait—a testament to their faith—was enough to condemn them to death.

Mascarenhas' work during those dark days shares the evil that was perpetrated on the Hindus.

The first detailed report on the atrocities was published by a well-known Pakistani journalist, Anthony Mascarenhas, in London’s Sunday Times , on June 13, 1971. Mascarenhas was among a group of Pakistani journalists invited by the government to write in favour of the military actions. He fled to London to report what he had actually seen. In his famous report titled “Genocide”, he wrote: “I saw Hindus hunted from village to village and door to door, shot off-hand after a cursory ‘short arm inspection’ showed they were un-circumcised. I have heard the screams of men bludgeoned to death in the compound of the Circuit House in Comilla. I have seen truckloads of other human targets and those who had the humanity to try to help them hauled off for disposal under the cover of darkness and curfew.” On August 2, 1971, Time magazine published details of massacre. It quoted a senior United States official as saying, “it is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland.” Genocide researcher Professor R.J. Rummel said: “These ‘willing executioners’ were fuelled by an abiding anti-Bengali racism, especially against the Hindu minority. Bengalis were often compared with monkeys and chicken …. And the soldiers were free to kill at will.” (Source: "In East Pakistan in 1971: A ‘forgotten’ genocide" / Frontline magazine)

Everyone knew. But they would speak in private. Very few had the moral courage of those few men and women in the Bangladeshi consulate.

The targeted massacres were reminiscent of the Jewish holocaust by the Nazis. A senior United States official said, “it is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland.”

This barbarity did not stand alone. The persecutors paired it with other dehumanizing acts, like forcing individuals to recite Muslim prayers. Those who faltered—those whose voices cracked under the weight of fear and unfamiliarity—were instantly marked as “other” and met the same fate. This was no mere conflict; it was a deliberate, systematic purge.

What unfolded was not just genocide but a chilling blueprint for religious annihilation.

Faith was reduced to a vulnerability. A body became a battlefield. And a people, already on the brink, were forced to contend with the horrifying realization that their very existence had been weaponized against them.

This was the grotesque logic of hate—the machinery of ethnic cleansing laid bare.

The obvious question that comes to one's mind is - if Operation Searchlight and the actions by the Pakistanis were a Hindu Genocide as underscored by so many objective witnesses, then why didn't the Indian government which fought the war against the Pakistanis push to declare it as such?

And Indian officials did not want to provide further ammunition to the irate Hindu nationalists in the Jana Sangh party. From Moscow, D. P. Dhar, India’s ambassador there, decried the Pakistan army’s “preplanned policy of selecting Hindus for butchery,” but, fearing inflammatory politicking from “rightist reactionary Hindu chauvinist parties like Jana Sangh,” he wrote, “We were doing our best not to allow this aspect of the matter to be publicised in India.”"

The answer is the "Secular" (read anti-Hindu) politics of Indian PM Indira Gandhi.

In the name of "Hindu Nationalism" - essentially a term for Hindus who want to restore their rightful original heritage that has been butchered, plundered, and stolen from them - a soft Hindu genocidal action was undertaken by the then government of India as well under the Congress Party rule.

Indira Gandhi led this practice by undermining the targeting of the Hindus.

Source: “The Blood telegram : Nixon, Kissinger, and a forgotten genocide” by Gary Jonathan Bass

To fully grasp the context of the massacres, I have summarized 36 massacres in a table to show the extent.

Also, so you get the details, here is a summary of each massacre. You can see the barbarity as well as specific targeting of the Hindus - killing of men and kids and abduction and gang rapes of women.

The Horrible Hindu Massacres of 1971

Adityapur Massacre

  • Year: June 14, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and local Razakars
  • Victims: 63 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Victims were forcibly assembled and shot; women were subjected to abduction.
  • Details: On June 14, 1971, in the village of Adityapur, Sylhet district, Pakistani soldiers, with assistance from local collaborators, encircled the village, gathered Hindu residents under false pretenses, and executed 63 men. Women were abducted during the raid. Wikipedia

Akhira Massacre

  • Year: April 17, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and local Razakars
  • Victims: Approximately 100 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Victims were lined up and killed using machine guns; survivors were bayoneted; women were subjected to gang rape.
  • Details: On April 17, 1971, near Baraihat in Dinajpur district, around 50 Hindu families seeking safe passage to India were betrayed, confined, looted, and subsequently massacred by the Pakistani Army, with women enduring brutal sexual violence. Wikipedia

Bagbati Massacre

  • Year: May 27, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Al Badr, Razakars, Peace Committee members, and Pakistani Army
  • Victims: More than 200 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Indiscriminate shooting; homes looted and set ablaze; women subjected to rape.
  • Details: On May 27, 1971, in Bagbati Union, Sirajganj sub-division, coordinated attacks led to the mass killing of Hindu villagers, with bodies later disposed of in wells, underscoring the brutality of the conflict. Wikipedia

Bhimnali Massacre

  • Year: May 22, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Local collaborators, including the Peace Committee
  • Victims: 15 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: On May 22, 1971, in Bhimnali village, Barisal district, local collaborators attacked the village. The Bengali Hindu villagers resisted with spears and shields but were overpowered, resulting in the death of 15 villagers. Wikipedia

Baria Massacre

  • Year: May 14, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: Approximately 200 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: On May 14, 1971, in Baria village, Gazipur District, Pakistani soldiers opened fire on villagers, looted homes, and set them ablaze. Many villagers attempting to flee were also shot, resulting in around 200 deaths, including women and children. Wikipedia

Bakhrabad Massacre

  • Year: May 24, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army, with assistance from Al Badr and Al Shams
  • Victims: 142 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Machine gun fire
  • Details: On May 24, 1971, in Bakhrabad village, Comilla district, the Pakistani army, aided by local collaborators, attacked the Hindu population, resulting in the death of 142 individuals through indiscriminate machine gun fire. Wikipedia

Barguna Massacre

  • Year: May 29-30, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistan Armed Forces and Peace Committee members
  • Victims: More than 100 Bengalis, predominantly Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and mass execution
  • Details: Between May 29 and 30, 1971, in Barguna sub-divisional jail, Pakistani forces, along with local collaborators, executed over 100 detainees, the majority of whom were Bengali Hindus. Women captives were subjected to sexual violence during this period. Wikipedia

Char Bhadrasan Massacre

  • Year: mid-May, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: 50–60 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: In mid-May 1971, in Char Bhadrasan, Faridpur district, a group led by Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed attacked Hindu-dominated villages, killing 50–60 unarmed Bengali Hindus and setting fire to 300–350 Hindu households. Wikipedia

Dakra Massacre

  • Year: 1971
  • Perpetrators: Peace Committee members and Razakars
  • Victims: 646 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: On May 21, 1971, in Dakra village, Bagerhat sub-division, Khulna district, local collaborators led by Rajab Ali Fakir attacked Hindu refugees, resulting in the death of 646 men, women, and children. Wikipedia

Demra Massacre

  • Date: May 13, 1971
  • Location: Demra Union, Pabna District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and local collaborators
  • Victims: 800–900 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Mass shootings, rapes, and arson
  • Details: The Pakistani Army, guided by local collaborators, attacked the villages of Baushgari and Rupsi. Men were lined up and shot, while women were subjected to rape before being killed. Homes, temples, and schools were set ablaze. Wikipedia

Galimpur Massacre

  • Date: May 20, 1971
  • Location: Galimpur, Sylhet District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: 33 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: Following a local dispute, the Pakistani Army, accompanied by Razakars, entered Galimpur. They shot villagers, looted valuables, and set the village on fire, resulting in the deaths of 33 individuals. Wikipedia

Golahat Massacre

  • Date: June 13, 1971
  • Location: Golahat, Nilphamari District
  • Perpetrators: Bihari Muslims and Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 437 Marwari Hindus
  • Method: Bayoneting and hacking
  • Details: Marwari Hindus were deceived into boarding a train under the pretense of safe passage to India. The train was halted at Golahat, where the passengers were brutally killed using ram-daos and bayonets. Wikipedia

Goreswar Massacre

  • Date: July 3, 1960
  • Location: Goreswar, Kamrup District, Assam, India
  • Perpetrators: Assamese mobs
  • Victims: At least 10 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting, stabbing, and arson
  • Details: Amidst linguistic tensions, Assamese mobs attacked Bengali Hindu settlements, resulting in deaths and the displacement of approximately 50,000 individuals to West Bengal. Wikipedia

Hasamdia Massacre

  • Date: May 16, 1971
  • Location: Hasamdia, Faridpur District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: 33 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army, with local collaborators, raided Hindu houses in Hasamdia and surrounding villages, capturing and executing 33 individuals. Wikipedia

Ishangopalpur Massacre

  • Date: May 2, 1971
  • Location: Ishangopalpur, Faridpur District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: 28 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and bayoneting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army attacked the house of a former Hindu landlord, capturing 29 individuals. They were tortured, and 28 were killed near a pond. Wikipedia

Jathibhanga Massacre

  • Date: April 23, 1971
  • Location: Jathibhanga, Thakurgaon District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: Approximately 3,000 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: Bengali Hindu men were rounded up, detained, and later executed by machine-gun fire in an open field.

Kaliganj Massacre

  • Date: April 27, 1971
  • Location: Kaliganj, Rangpur District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: Approximately 400 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army attacked the Hindu-majority village of Kaliganj, killing around 400 residents.

Ketnar Bil Massacre

  • Year: May 15, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: More than 500 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Machine gun fire
  • Details: On May 15, 1971, in the Ketnar Bil area of Barisal District, East Pakistan, the Pakistani Army fired upon thousands of fleeing villagers, resulting in over 500 deaths. The soldiers also set fire to homes and killed livestock. Wikipedia

Karai Kadipur Massacre

  • Year: April 26, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and Razakars
  • Victims: 370 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Mass shooting
  • Details: On April 26, 1971, in the villages of Karai and Kadipur in Joypurhat, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the Pakistani Army, aided by local collaborators, encircled the villages and executed 370 Hindu men using light machine guns. Wikipedia

Krishnapur Massacre

  • Year: September 18, 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 127 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: On September 18, 1971, in Krishnapur and neighboring villages in Sylhet District, East Pakistan, the Pakistani Army shot 127 Bengali Hindus to death in Krishnapur alone, with additional killings in surrounding areas. Dharmapedia

Muladi Massacre

  • Year: 1971
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: Unknown number of Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: In 1971, in Muladi, Barisal District, East Pakistan, the Pakistani Army attacked Hindu-majority areas, resulting in numerous deaths and the destruction of property. Dharmapedia

Muzaffarabad Massacre

  • Date: May 3, 1971
  • Location: Muzaffarabad, Patiya Upazila, Chittagong District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army and local collaborators
  • Victims: More than 300 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting, arson, and bayoneting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army, aided by local collaborators, attacked the predominantly Hindu village of Muzaffarabad. They went door-to-door, killing residents, including elderly individuals and religious figures. Homes were looted and set ablaze. Wikipedia

Naria Massacre

  • Date: May 5, 1971
  • Location: Naria village, Maulvibazar District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army, Razakars, Al Badr, and Peace Committee members
  • Victims: 28 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: Pakistani soldiers, accompanied by local collaborators, rounded up villagers, separating men from women and children. Men were executed by burst fire, while women were subjected to rape. Houses and granaries were set on fire. Wikipedia

Pomara Massacre

  • Date: September 14, 1971
  • Location: Pomara Union, Chittagong District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 13 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Buried alive
  • Details: A contingent of the Pakistani Army attacked the village, capturing 18 villagers. Five were released in critical condition, while the remaining 13 were forced to dig their own graves and were buried alive in the Pomara reserved forest. Wikipedia

Shankharibazar Massacre

  • Date: March 26, 1971
  • Location: Shankharibazar, Dhaka
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting and arson
  • Details: During the early hours of Operation Searchlight, the Pakistani Army targeted the Hindu-majority area of Shankharibazar, killing residents and setting homes and temples on fire. Dharmapedia

Shankharikathi Massacre

  • Date: November 4, 1971
  • Location: Shankharikathi, Khulna District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 42 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army attacked the village, executing 42 Hindu residents. Wikipedia

Suryamani Massacre

  • Date: October 7, 1971
  • Location: Suryamani, Barisal District
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 24 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: The Pakistani Army conducted an operation in Suryamani, resulting in the deaths of 24 Hindu villagers. Wikipedia

Sree Angan Massacre

  • Date: April 21, 1971
  • Location: Faridpur, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 8 Bengali Hindu sannyasis
  • Method: Shooting
  • Details: The Sree Angan monastery, located in the Goalchamat locality of Faridpur town, was a Hindu ashram of the Mahanam Sampradaya founded by Prabhu Jagadbandhu. On April 21, 1971, as the Pakistani Army entered Faridpur District during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, they were guided by Bihari collaborators to the Sree Angan ashram. Misinterpreting the sannyasis' chants of "Jaya Jaya Jagadbandhu Hari" as support for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the soldiers accused them of anti-state activities. Eight sannyasis were forcibly taken to an open space within the ashram premises and executed by gunfire. The soldiers and collaborators then looted valuables and destroyed parts of the ashram, including using dynamite to demolish the temple spire. Wikipedia

Satanikhil Massacre

  • Date: May 14, 1971
  • Location: Kewar village, Dhaka District, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 14 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Mass shooting with light machine guns

In the early hours of May 14, 1971, approximately 70 Pakistani soldiers and local collaborators surrounded the residence of the prominent Chowdhury family in Kewar village. They captured 22 Bengali Hindus who had sought refuge there, including intellectuals and community leaders. The captives were taken to the banks of the Satanikhil canal, about a kilometer away. Sixteen were lined up and shot with machine guns, resulting in 14 immediate deaths. Two individuals survived the initial shooting. Among the remaining six captives, two were taken to the Haraganga College army camp, tortured, and killed, with their bodies disposed of in a nearby beel (wetland). The other four managed to escape, with one convincing the captors of his Muslim identity to secure release. The deceased were not cremated, as fear prevented locals from performing the rites. Wikipedia

Sendia Massacre

  • Date: May 20, 1971
  • Location: Sendia village, Faridpur District, East Pakistan (now Madaripur District, Bangladesh)
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 127 Bengali Hindus
  • Method: Mass shooting and arson

On May 20, 1971, Pakistani soldiers from the Tekerhat army camp launched an operation targeting Bengali Hindu communities. After attacking several villages, they arrived in Sendia around 4 PM. Anticipating the assault, many Hindus from neighboring areas had sought refuge in Sendia's sugarcane fields. The soldiers looted and set fire to the village, burning an elderly woman alive. Captured villagers were blindfolded, bound, and tortured to death at six different locations. A goat's cry revealed the hiding spot of those in the sugarcane fields, leading to indiscriminate firing that killed over 100 individuals on the spot. Six days later, five more people were killed. Survivors later buried the dead in six mass graves. A four-month-old child who survived was adopted by Father Marino Reagan from a Christian mission in Baniarchar and taken to the United States. In 2009, Reagan initiated the construction of a plaque commemorating the victims. In March 2010, a case was filed against local collaborators for their involvement in the massacre. As of 2012, no government initiatives had been taken to preserve the mass graves, with residential buildings encroaching on the sites. Wikipedia

Sutrapur Massacre

  • Date: March 27, 1971
  • Location: Sutrapur, Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
  • Perpetrators: Pakistani Army
  • Victims: 15 individuals (14 Bengali Hindus and 1 Muslim)
  • Method: Shooting

Following the initiation of Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971, the Pakistani Army targeted various Dhaka localities, including Sutrapur, which had a significant Hindu population. On March 27, during a brief relaxation of curfew, many residents attempted to flee. That afternoon, 11 Bengali Hindus from Malakartola Lane were apprehended and taken to the Biharilal Jiu Temple. Among them was Dr. Harinath Dey, a former professor of biochemistry at the University of Dhaka. In the evening, they were moved to the Sutrapur police station, which had been converted into an army camp, and forced to kneel for hours. Around 10 PM, the detainees were marched to the Loharpool bridge, lined up, and shot, causing their bodies to fall into the Dholai canal. Dr. Dey was killed instantly, while Paresh Chandra Das, an engineer, survived. The homes of Malakartola were looted, and the temple was desecrated. In 2010, a mural was painted at the Malakartola crossing to honor the victims. Wikipedia

But the targeting of Hindus wasn't just massacres.

The entire might of the Bangladeshi state was brought up against them.

The Enemy Property Act or the Vested Property Act - State-Led Theft of Hindu Lands

It is not as though atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh are a recent phenomenon. The grim reality is that Bangladesh was architected, from its very inception, to institutionalize the persecution and marginalization of its Hindu population.

One of the most devastating tools of this systemic dispossession was the Vested Property Act (VPA), rooted in the Enemy Property Act of 1965 enacted by Pakistan. The law was wielded to systematically strip Hindus of their properties, branding them as "enemies of the state." Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University meticulously documented the catastrophic impact of this act in his book "Inquiry into Causes and Consequences of Deprivation of Hindu Minorities in Bangladesh through the Vested Property Act." His findings reveal a harrowing picture of targeted injustice:

  • 748,850 Hindu families were dispossessed of their agricultural land.
  • The cumulative land lost by Hindu households totaled 1.64 million acres (6,640 km²), representing 53% of all Hindu-owned land and 5.3% of the total land area of Bangladesh.
  • By 1997, 40% of Hindu families in Bangladesh had suffered under this act.
  • Over half of Hindu-owned land had been confiscated, a devastating blow to the community's economic and social fabric.

This was not just a matter of land theft; it was a systematic effort at ethnic and religious cleansing, designed to erase Hindus from Bangladesh’s socio-political landscape. The act's enduring legacy has been the relentless decline of the Hindu population in the country, cementing their status as an unfinished agenda of dispossession and persecution.

The Vested Property Act was not merely a discriminatory policy; it was a declaration of intent to exclude and diminish an entire community. Its implementation and consequences serve as a stark reminder of the deep-seated bigotry that remains embedded in the country's institutions and psyche.

Recent Anti-Hindu Attacks

The attack on Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's Prime Minister, stemmed from a volatile student-led movement against corruption and alleged electoral malpractice.

Initially rooted in seemingly legitimate demands for accountability and reform, the movement quickly unraveled into chaos, exposing deep-seated bigotry within sections of Bangladeshi society.

As protests intensified, opportunistic extremist elements redirected the focus of dissent, framing the political conflict as a religious one.

This shift was neither accidental nor isolated.

Radical Islamist factions, historically opposed to Hasina's secular policies and ties to India, co-opted the movement to fan anti-Hindu sentiments.

By conflating Hasina's political identity with her perceived association with Hindus and India, these elements turned public outrage into a pretext for violence.

What began as a political uprising devolved into widespread attacks on Bangladesh's Hindu minority, including temples, homes, and businesses.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), with its visible Hindu affiliation, became a prime target. Its temples and members faced gruesome violence, a chilling reminder of the vulnerability of religious minorities. This episode underscored how fragile socio-political movements can be hijacked by bigotry, transforming demands for justice into tools for communal hatred, perpetuating cycles of violence that Bangladesh has yet to fully address.

The current government led by Yunus granted bail to Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an organization linked to extremist activities. Rahmani had been imprisoned since 2013 for inciting violence and was implicated in the murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.

Rahmani was not the only Jihadi who has been released. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi journalist, has suggested that the Yunus administration may have released 144 hardened jihadists as well.

On July 19, 2024, amid nationwide protests in Bangladesh, a significant security breach occurred at the Narsingdi District Jail. Thousands of assailants attacked the facility, setting fires and breaking cell locks, which led to the escape of 826 inmates, including nine militants associated with banned extremist groups like Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarullah Bangla Team. (Source: Dhaka Tribune)

The attackers overwhelmed prison guards, looted 85 firearms and over 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and caused extensive damage to the prison infrastructure. Some inmates were reportedly beaten and forced to flee against their will. (Source: BDNews24)

Interestingly, Salah Uddin discusses the escapes and the arms that they have gotten access to.

The situation in Bangladesh worsened following a violent jailbreak in Narsingdi District on July 19, 2024. Armed assailants attacked the prison, freeing 909 inmates, including jihadists from groups like Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansar Al Islam. They also looted 85 firearms, including automatic rifles and over 8,150 rounds of ammunition. Similar incidents occurred in prisons across the country, with hundreds of prisoners escaping and large quantities of weapons falling into the hands of militant groups. Additionally, more than 400 police stations were looted, yielding thousands of firearms, ammunition, and bulletproof jackets now in the possession of jihadist outfits. Reports also indicate that a significant cache of weapons, including AK-47 rifles, has entered Bangladesh via the Myanmar border since August 2024. These weapons are believed to be intended for use against Hindus and other minority groups. (Source: "Hundreds of looted weapons remain in the hands of notorious jihadists in Bangladesh" / Weekly Blitz)

Here are some scenes of mob attacks on Hindus that have been uploaded to X by the eye-witnesses.

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Targeting Hindus has increased a lot.

Targeting ISKCON - Why?

The attacks have become even more specific against a Hindu organization named ISKCON.

Why is that important?

Tulsi Gabbard, the new nominee for Director of National Intelligence, is an ISKCON devotee herself.

In this video, then-U.S. Congresswoman from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard shared her thoughts on ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada’s achievements and contributions at a special ISKCON 50th Anniversary Gala Event in Washington D.C. as the keynote speaker.

We had discussed the particular animosity that Hillary Clinton showered on Tulsi during her campaign as the Democratic Presidential candidate in 2020.

Where is the US and the World Headed - Impact of the New Team
The premise and the mindset apparent in the new Trump team points to an interesting world out there. Things will not be rosy, but they will be very different. Very, very different.

We have also discussed how Mohammad Yunus has been a close associate of George Soros.

Bangladesh on the Brink: How the Looming Crisis Could Redefine Asia’s Borders and Threaten Modi’s India
The future may not have a Bangladesh that we see today. The forces unleashed today will create different ramifications. We look at every angle of the events unfolding.

In a startling revelation during a meet at the Clinton Global Initiative, Muhammad Yunus provided a detailed account of how the so-called "Revolution" against Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh was meticulously orchestrated. Yunus admitted that the movement, initially portrayed as a grassroots uprising against corruption, was part of a larger, calculated plot to overthrow the Hasina government.

He did this as Bill Clinton looked on and cheered the jihadis approvingly.

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Describing the intricate layers of the plan, Yunus highlighted how political dissent was systematically weaponized, leveraging grievances among the youth and student groups to create widespread unrest. He acknowledged that this unrest was not organic but carefully engineered to destabilize the ruling Awami League's hold on power.

Yunus went further, directly naming a prominent jihadi figure as the "mastermind" behind the operation. He pointed out how this individual and their network exploited public discontent to fuel chaos, which ultimately morphed into targeted violence against minorities, particularly Hindus and ISKCON members.

The admission raises serious questions about the motivations and alliances behind Yunus's involvement and acquiescence of the Clintons, as well as the broader implications for Bangladesh's political stability.

Interestingly, in 2016, Yunus had called Trump's win in 2016 a "solar eclipse".

Source: HEC

With that as the context, one needs to view the attacks that are happening with the full state protection to the jihadis.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), has now become a prime target. Its temples and members have faced gruesome violence.

These episodes have underscored how fragile socio-political movements can be hijacked by bigotry, transforming demands for justice into tools for communal hatred, perpetuating cycles of violence that Bangladesh has yet to fully address.

Arrest of a Monk

Chinmoy Krishna Das, also known as Krishna Das Prabhu, is a prominent Hindu monk and former member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh.

He has been an outspoken advocate for the rights and protection of the Hindu minority in the predominantly Muslim nation.

In October 2024, during a significant rally in Chattogram, he and others were falsely accused of disrespecting the national flag of Bangladesh, leading to charges of sedition.

Chinmoy Krishna Das and others were accused of desecrating the national flag by raising ISKCON’s saffron flag alongside the national flag on the Independence Monument at the New Market intersection in Chittagong.

Let this sink in for a moment!

Just having the ISKCON flag along with the Bangladesh flag was a disrespect for these jihadis.

On November 25, 2024, Das was arrested at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while en route to Chattogram. The arrest was executed by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Following his detention, he was presented before the Chattogram Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, where his bail application was denied, and he was ordered to remain in custody pending further proceedings. (Source: AP News)

All a scripted charade!

Disinformation from the "Secular" and Anti-Hindu India Media

The Human Rights Center for Bangladesh (HRCB) worked in collaboration with ISCKON Bangladesh to distribute relief materials and cash to the impacted families in Feni, Comilla, and Noakhali districts.

You can read about it here.

HRCB, in partnership with ISKCON Bangladesh, Distributed Flood Relief 2024 in Feni, Commilla and Noakhali districts in Bangladesh – Human Rights Center for Bangladesh

Here is the video on HRCB's YouTube channel. Downloaded it here, for we don't know how long it will be up there, given the circumstances and the persecution of ISCKON folks.

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Since ISCKON and other Hindu organizations keep doing relief works, some of the enthusiastic social media content creators took a 2022 video to underscore the social hypocrisy of the Bangladesh majority community - how an organization like ISCKON gave relief to the very people a few months back is being targeted for a ban and their cadres being arrested and hit.

The Indian media organizations that regularly carry the water for anti-Hindu groups and forces, tried to discount that story by triumphantly showing how the video used by the content creators was not from 2024 (as claimed) but from 2022. Really?!

Source: The Quint

If instead of nitpicking on the videos by some lazy content creators in a bid to delegitimize the larger message of the content creators of bigotry and hypocrisy of Bangladeshi Muslims, which is valid, the tabloids like "The Quint" had focused on the atrocities being unleashed on the Hindus in a saga of continued genocide, they would have some claim to being journalists.

They have been and continue to be prostitutes of social bigotry cloaked in selective morality.

Let us move to another aspect of these attacks - a country-wide span of these acts.

Scale of Anti-Hindu Attacks

Since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, Bangladesh experienced a series of attacks targeting the Hindu community, including numerous temples across various divisions.

The Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported 2,010 incidents of attacks on minorities, including 69 temples, between August 4 and August 20. These attacks spanned various divisions of the country, with significant incidents in each region.

Here is a list of some of the attacks that have been mentioned in media reports. Most of the attacks have gone unreported!

First a table for a quick look.

Source - details taken from Wikipedia's page

If you have reports and details of any more attacks, please share the details with us - we will add them to this article for a more comprehensive list.

Khulna Division

  • Meherpur District: An ISKCON temple was vandalized and set ablaze, resulting in the destruction of deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra Devi. (Source: India Today)
  • Satkhira District: The Jessoreswari Kali Temple in Shyamnagar was targeted, with the theft of a golden crown gifted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chattogram (Chittagong) Division

  • Chattogram District: Multiple Hindu temples, including one in the Navgraha Bari area, were attacked and set on fire by violent mobs. (Source: India Today)

Dhaka Division

  • Dhaka District: The Dhakeshwari National Temple, the country's largest Hindu temple, faced heightened security concerns, leading to increased protection measures by volunteers from various religious communities. (Source: Le Monde)

Barishal Division

  • Patuakhali District: A Hindu house and temple were attacked, vandalized, and set on fire by a group of 20 to 25 attackers. (Source: The Daily Star)

Rangpur Division

  • Dinajpur District: Hindu homes and temples were attacked and vandalized, leading to significant property damage and community displacement. (Source: Deccan Herald)

Sylhet Division

  • Sylhet District: Hindu temples and properties were targeted, resulting in damage to religious sites and personal properties. (Source: Deccan Herald)

Here is a quick list of the Hindu properties destroyed and attacked.

The attacks continue to this day as do the destruction of temples across Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the disinformation by the media and the so-called news industry continues.

For, profit cannot be made from truth. It cannot match the power and money of the propagandist.

The time may have come for the Hindus to think and structure their societies in a completely different way.

The challenge that brought the Jews to Israel creating a homeland for the persecuted, may need to be done for Hindus as well. One place that has a complete security blanket against disinformation, propaganda, and related destructive acts.