Bangladesh: 505 cases of violence against minorities recorded so far this year

Key points

• A leading minority rights organisation on Thursday (May 21, 2026) expressed grave concern over an alarming pattern of violence against minorities in Bangladesh, documenting 505 incidents in the first four months of this year.
• In its latest report, titled ‘The Persecution Continues: Minority Communities Under Sustained Attack in Bangladesh’, the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) recorded 505 incidents across 62 districts and all 8 divisions of Bangladesh between January and April 2026. The report mentioned that these incidents included killings and suspicious deaths, physical assaults, kidnappings, sexual violence, attacks on temples and religious institutions, land grabbing, arson, looting, intimidation, and blasphemy-related persecution.
• According to HRCBM, these incidents are not isolated or localised events but reflect recurring patterns of violence, intimidation, sexual abuse, land dispossession, religious attacks, mob aggression, and institutional protection failures affecting minority communities across the country.
• As per the findings, the major categories of documented violations...