|
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council on Monday released data on communal violence in the country for the first six months of 2026, stating that the overall pattern of violence remained largely similar to that witnessed over the 12 months of 2025.
At a press conference held at the National Press Club in Dhaka, the Council presented partial data showing that 257 incidents of communal violence were recorded across the country between January 1 and June 30, 2026. According to the data released by the Council, 44 people were killed in 40 incidents during the six-month period. The report further stated that five incidents involved torture, rape, or gang rape of women, while 10 incidents involved abduction, extortion, or torture. Additionally, 42 incidents involved attacks, death threats, or torture, while 62 incidents involved attacks on places of worship, idol desecration, looting, and arson. The Council also reported 15 incidents involving the occupation or attempted occupation of land belonging to places of worship, 47 incidents involving attacks, vandalism, looting, and arson targeting homes and business establishments, nine incidents involving arrests and torture under false allegations of blasphemy, and 21 incidents involving the forcible seizure of land, homes, and businesses. A further six incidents were categorised as other forms of communal violence. Highlighting the broader trend, the Council presented a comparative overview covering a 23-month period, including the five months from August 5 to December 31, 2024, the 12 months from January 1 to December 31, 2025, and the first six months of 2026. According to the Council, 73.7 per cent of the total 2,963 incidents recorded during the 23-month period occurred in the five months following August 5, 2024, which it described as a phase of large-scale mass violence. "The primary targets of the attacks were the homes, business establishments, and religious structures of minority communities," the Council stated during the press conference. It further said that 17.6 per cent of the total incidents occurred during 2025, while 8.7 per cent were recorded in the first six months of 2026. Presenting its comparative assessment, the Council stated that the scale of violence in 2024 was nearly 4.2 times higher than in 2025. It also noted that nearly 70 per cent of the total incidents involved attacks on homes and business establishments, while around 10 per cent targeted religious places of worship. According to the Council's analysis, on average, one person was killed for every 21 incidents, and nearly one in every 10 incidents involved an attack on a religious structure. (ANI)
|
