A Hindu youth was beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh. What did the government say?
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Police told BBC Bangla that the incident took place on Thursday night in Dubalia Para of Bhaluka Upazila. Bhaluka Police Station Duty Officer Ripon Mia told BBC Bangla that after the young man was beaten to death, his body was tied to a tree and set on fire. Police identified the deceased as Dipu Chandra Das.
Officials said the deceased worked at a local garment factory and lived in a rented room in the area. Bhaluka Police Station Duty Officer Ripon Mia told BBC Bangla, “Around 9 pm on Thursday night, some agitated people apprehended him on charges of insulting the Prophet and beat him. Then they set his body on fire.”
Officials said that upon receiving the information, the police arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control. Police said that the body of the deceased Das has been recovered and sent to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. Ripon Mia told BBC Bangla, “We are looking for his relatives. If they come and file a case, action will be taken according to the law.”
What did the Chief Advisor say?
A statement issued by Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus condemned the killing in Mymensingh.
Mohammad Yunus’s press wing wrote on Facebook, “We strongly condemn the lynching of a Hindu man in Mymensingh. There is no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh. The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared.”
“In this critical hour, we call upon every citizen to pay tribute to the martyr Hadi by opposing violence, incitement, and hatred.”
Mohammad Yunus
Reaction in India
BJP leader and head of the party’s IT cell, Amit Malviya, condemned the killing, writing on X, “This horrific incident exposes the brutal reality of allowing Islamic extremism to flourish unchecked and denying security to minorities.” Strategic affairs expert and author Brahma Chellaney also wrote a post on X about the lynching and the latest situation in Bangladesh. Chellaney writes, “Bangladesh is openly descending into anarchy. Government-backed militants have set fire to newspaper offices, attacked the offices and homes of Indian diplomats, and lynched a young Hindu minority man by tying him to a tree and burning him alive.”
“As mobs take over the streets, the interim government led by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate has begun using its repressive power against its own people.”
“The message is clear: dissent and minorities are no longer safe. In the wake of these attacks, two of the country’s leading newspapers have been forced to shut down.”
The West Bengal BJP also criticized the lynching incident and wrote on its X account, “A Hindu, Dipu Chandra Das, was lynched in Bangladesh last night. This is not just about Dipu Chandra Das in Bangladesh. It is also about Hargobindo Das and Chandan Das, who faced a similar fate in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee’s rule.”
Violence and Arson in Bangladesh
Violent protests have erupted in Bangladesh following the death of youth leader Sharif Usman Hadi. Hadi was a popular leader of the uprising that ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power in 2024.
Hadi died on Thursday night at a hospital in Singapore. He was shot last week in Dhaka by masked assailants. Hadi was planning to participate in the elections scheduled for February. These will be the first elections in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina was removed from power.
Overnight, protesters vandalized and set fire to the offices of Bangladesh’s leading newspapers, ‘The Daily Star’ and ‘Prothom Alo’. The protests continued on Friday, and Hadi’s body was brought to Dhaka from Singapore this evening. Muhammad Yunus described Hadi’s death as “an irreparable loss for the nation.”
