Name: Md.

Khalid Ibna Zaman

Roll: 36

Factors that Contribute to Violence against Minorities in Bangladesh

In general, violence is a form of physical behavior that leads to action of brutality, cruelty,
atrocity, savagery against someone or something. Violence against minorities in Bangladesh is
not an uncommon activity. Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country. Basically, the existing
minorities in Bangladesh in the form of religion and ethnicity are the Hindus, Buddhists,
Christians, Biharis, Shi’a, the non-bengalis mostly in the Chattogram Hill Tracks area etc.

Factors that lead to violence against minorities in BD are discussed below-

 In my point of view, one of the most important factors leading to communal violence in
Bangladesh by majority community is misinterpreting Islam by the radical Islamic groups
and using the innocent sentiments of Muslims to commit violence against minorities
without knowing the true story about whether the minorities committed something
against Islam or not. True teaching of Islam is to protect and ensure equal rights to
minorities as long as they’re not wagging war with you and our minorities aren’t doing
that so.
 Lack of implementation of the true ideals of secularism by the government as well as the
society not understanding the ideals of secularism accurately. Though the AL government
introduced secularism as one of the state principles and still have it, from the beginning
they made a compromise its ideals with Islam.
 To achieve the political goals of radical Islamic extremist groups like Jamaat-e-Islam,
Muslim League Bangladesh and Islami Chattrashibir the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islam.
Two consecutive military regimes made their tasks easy by abolishing the secularism
from state principle and making Islam as state religion. Motivated by the electoral
politics, the BNP-Jamaat coalition government during the election and afterwards
committed most violence against Hindus.
  The counter reaction in Bangladesh about what happens in India against Indian Muslims.
In retaliation to the Babri Masjid incident in India, anti-Hindu riot took place in 1990 and
1992 at many places in Bangladesh. According to the data of Hindu Mohajote, in 2019,
Hindus faced a total of 683 attacks across the country in which 31,505 people of the
religious minority group were affected the same year that India passed Citizen
Amnedment Act.

Role of Social Media

Facebook is the most frequently used social media in Bangladesh and it sometimes intentionally
or unintentionally provokes violence. Sometimes, a single Facebook post can trigger violence
without knowing the validity of it. Simply, the misuse of social media is triggering most of the
communal violence. Fake or hacked accounts, rumors, digital disinformation, photoshopped
work, hate speech are the factors in which social media becomes a medium of spreading
communal violence and the majority community being motivated by these, commits violence
without detecting which is wrong or right.

Evidences

On Nov 1, 2020, fire was set on the house of the Hindus on allegation of speaking ill of religion
in Cumilla’s Muradnagar Upazila. People were called up using loudspeakers to create a
gathering which began vandalising and looting the houses of the Hindus. The police, public
representatives, the locals and the victims all complained that it was a carefully chalked up plan.

In October 20, 2019, riots broke out over a blasphemous Facebook post by a Hindu man, Biplab
Chandra Baidya criticizing Prophet Muhammad in Borhanuddin, Bhola. In retaliation to this,
around 20,000 Muslims demonstrated at a prayer ground to demand the execution of the young
Hindu man for inciting religious hatred. It turned into violent protests and clashes with police
which resulted in 4 dead and 50 injured. Later, it was found as usual that the Facebook account
was hacked to spread lies and Badiya was blackmailed to pay 20,000Tk or blasphemous content
would be posted from his Facebook account.