Another Hindu Dead, Silence Ensues: When Minority Lives Don’t Matter in Bangladesh
In yet another chilling reminder of the growing insecurity faced by minorities in Bangladesh, Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a respected Hindu leader, was abducted in broad daylight and beaten to death near his home in Dinajpur. The 58-year-old vice president of the local Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad unit didn’t die in a terror attack, war zone, or riot—he was targeted in peacetime Bangladesh. And that is exactly what makes this murder so disturbing.
This wasn’t a random act of violence. This was a message.
And perhaps more damning than the murder itself is the deafening silence that followed. No mass outrage. No swift justice. Just another body. Just another report.
Kidnapped, Beaten, and Returned in a Van: A Chilling Ordeal
According to eyewitnesses and family members, Roy received a call around 4:30 pm on Thursday—likely to confirm his presence at home. Half an hour later, four men on motorbikes arrived and abducted him in front of his own family. Eyewitnesses say he was dragged away and taken to a nearby village where he was assaulted brutally.
Hours later, his unconscious body was dumped outside his home like garbage. He was declared dead shortly after being transferred to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital.
His wife, who could identify at least two attackers, is now left navigating grief, fear, and the bureaucracy of justice in a system that has repeatedly failed its minorities.
Where is the Outrage? Where is the Accountability?
Roy’s killing isn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a worrying pattern—a long list of targeted attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh that rarely result in justice. Temples are vandalized, homes are torched, women are assaulted, and now, even community leaders aren’t safe.
Yet, the government’s response has been formulaic at best: "Preparations are underway to file a case and identify and arrest the accused." A line we’ve heard too many times before—with too few convictions to follow.
India-Bangladesh Relations: A Diplomatic Tug of Hypocrisy
Just a day before Roy’s murder, Bangladesh’s interim government issued a statement condemning violence against Muslims in India’s West Bengal and urging India to protect its minorities. Ironically, this diplomatic virtue signaling came while Bangladesh’s own minorities were bleeding on its streets.
India's Ministry of External Affairs responded sharply, rejecting Bangladesh’s “disguised and disingenuous” remarks and calling out Dhaka for its failure to protect its own Hindu population.
And they’re right.
Bangladesh's continued deflection, wrapped in diplomatic niceties and political posturing, cannot mask the ground reality: minorities are not safe, and their killers roam free.
A Dangerous Precedent: When State Inaction Becomes Silent Approval
Let’s call it what it is—institutional apathy. Whether it stems from fear, political expediency, or worse, a silent approval of anti-minority violence, the end result is the same: lawlessness with a communal edge.
Roy was not a fringe figure. He was a leader, a voice, a symbol. Killing him sends a message—not just to Hindus in Dinajpur, but to every minority in the country: you are not protected, and your life is negotiable.
What Next for Bangladesh’s Minorities?
With rising religious fundamentalism, weak law enforcement, and political polarization, Bangladesh is becoming increasingly hostile for those who fall outside the majority fold. Community leaders are being silenced through violence. Victims are buried without justice. And perpetrators often disappear into thin air—or worse, return emboldened.
The murder of Bhabesh Chandra Roy must not be allowed to fade into another line in a police file or a footnote in a diplomatic rebuttal. If Bangladesh still dares to call itself secular, now is the time to prove it.