The interim government of Bangladesh on Monday said that most incidents involving members of minority communities in 2025 were criminal in nature and not driven by communal motives, seeking to counter growing domestic and international concern over attacks on minorities in the country.
The statement was issued by the press wing of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, days after India, on January 9, urged Dhaka to act “swiftly and firmly” against attacks on minorities and described as “troubling” attempts to explain away such incidents through extraneous reasons. New Delhi’s remarks came amid reports of several Hindu individuals being killed in Bangladesh in recent weeks.
Referring to a year-long review of police records, the interim government said that a total of 645 incidents involving minority communities were recorded across Bangladesh between January and December 2025. While acknowledging that every such incident is a matter of serious concern, the statement asserted that the data provided an evidence-based picture showing that the vast majority of cases were not communal in character.
According to the government, only 71 of the 645 incidents were identified as having communal elements. These included 38 cases of temple vandalism, eight incidents of arson, one case of theft, one murder and 23 other incidents such as threats to destroy idols, provocative social media posts and damage to religious structures or worship pavilions.
Police cases were registered in 50 of these communal incidents, with arrests made in an equal number of cases. In the remaining 21 cases, authorities said they had taken preventive or investigative measures, including heightened surveillance and local interventions.
The remaining 574 incidents, the statement said, stemmed from criminal or social disputes unrelated to religion. These included neighbourhood disputes, land-related conflicts, theft, prior personal enmity, cases of rape and a large number of unnatural deaths. Police registered 390 cases in this category, filed 154 unnatural death reports and made 498 arrests, while additional action was taken in 30 other cases.
The interim government emphasised that the report was not an attempt to deny existing challenges or claim perfection, but rather an effort to present factual data within a broader national context. It said that while all crimes demand accountability, the evidence showed that most incidents involving minority victims were linked to wider criminal and social factors that affect citizens across religious and ethnic lines.
Citing demographic data from the 2022 census, the government noted that Bangladesh’s Hindu population stands at around 13.13 million, accounting for approximately 7.95 per cent of the total population. Buddhists number about 1.01 million, Christians nearly 500,000, and followers of other religions, including Sikh and Animist communities, about 200,000.
Earlier this month, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council alleged that communal violence was rising sharply as the country approaches general elections scheduled for February 12. The forum claimed that such violence was aimed at intimidating minority voters and preventing them from exercising their electoral choices, and said it had documented 51 incidents of communal violence in December 2025 alone.
Responding to these concerns, the interim government reiterated that ensuring the safety, dignity and justice of all citizens, irrespective of religion or belief, remains both a constitutional and moral responsibility of the state.
India has continued to voice concern over the situation. On January 9, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi was witnessing a disturbing pattern of repeated attacks on minorities, as well as their homes and businesses, by extremist elements in Bangladesh. He stressed that such incidents must be dealt with firmly and without delay.
Jaiswal also criticised what he described as a tendency to attribute such attacks to personal disputes, political rivalries or other unrelated factors, warning that this approach only emboldens perpetrators and deepens fear and insecurity among minority communities.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have remained strained since the interim administration led by Yunus assumed charge following the collapse of the government headed by Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Since then, India has repeatedly raised concerns, particularly over attacks targeting Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh.
