Persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in Bangladesh continues unabated amid a lack of justice and impunity for perpetrators, a Bangladeshi minority forum says. The Muslim-majority Asian nation witnessed some 1,045 cases of human rights violations against minorities, according to the latest annual report of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC).
The interreligious forum’s findings are based on media reports from July 2023 to June 2024.  During this period, 45 members of minority communities were murdered and there were 10 attempted murders and 36 death threats.
A total of 479 people were attacked, physically abused or injured, and 11  were victims of extorsion. The violence included 25 gang rapes, while 12 people were abducted, went missing or forced to convert. Eight  were arrested on false charges of blasphemy.
The report also recorded 102 attacks, acts of vandalism, looting and arson against homes and businesses belonging to minority communities. According to the BHBCUC, 70-75 per cent of the violence is centred on land grabbing, often under the influence of political parties and with the complicity of government agencies. The findings reported 47 incidents of land and homestead encroachment and 45 cases of land occupation, eviction activities, and threats, as well as 11 threats or attempts of expulsion.
The parliamentary elections in January this year saw 32 incidents of communal violence while local elections reported five incidents of this kind. At the press conference presenting the report, BHBCUC secretary general Rana Dasgupta, a Supreme Court lawyer, affirmed that these incidents are part of organised violence. He noted that the influence of extremist groups is growing in all areas, including the government administration, politics, and society, making minority communities more insecure and distrustful, forcing many of their members leave the country.