Speaking at the 17th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues, I would like to remind the august gathering that I spoke at this forum here in Geneva on 13th May 2003, requesting the UN to look into Bangladesh, as it was moving toward becoming a monolithic Islamic country, and I highlighted the plight of Hindu and other religious minorities.

Twenty-one years later, on 29th November 2024, I stand here again, as the population of religious minorities has dwindled from about 18% in 1970 to less than 9% in 2024. If this trend continues, Bangladesh will, within a few decades, become a monolithic Islamic country. Religious and ethnic minorities will be forced to seek refugee status in other countries as their rights erode even further.

In the last 53 years, no government has taken meaningful action to safeguard the lives and dignity of religious minorities. Persecution has continued under every administration, including the recent past government led by Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and the current interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Dr. Mohammed Yunus. No government has ever sought to curb entities sympathetic to Islamic militancy. Instead, they have compromised with such forces for temporary gains, maintaining their power structures.

During Sheikh Hasina’s rule (2009–2024), the world witnessed multiple pogroms in places like Ramu, Nasirnagar, Rangpur, and Cumilla. Militant mobs, chanting Islamic slogans, attacked Hindu localities, ransacking and looting houses and businesses. On several occasions, Hindus were killed and Hindu girls were kidnapped, many of whom were raped and converted. None of these atrocities were ever prosecuted in a court of law.

Since the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government, it has become evident that the new powers in Bangladesh oppose the secularism enshrined in its constitution. Efforts are underway to erase all memories of the 1971 Liberation War and the genocide committed by the Pakistani Army against the people of Bangladesh. Islamist forces aim to transform Bangladesh into a country governed by strict religious laws akin to those enforced in Afghanistan.

On 5th November 2024, in Hazari Lane, Chattogram, police and military personnel cordoned off the area, destroyed CCTV cameras, and mercilessly beat local Hindus in their homes. Hindu businesses were sealed, and approximately 100 Hindus were arrested, with more being targeted to this day.

Utsav Mondol, a 15-year-old Hindu boy, was brutally beaten on 4th September 2024 in Khulna, in front of the military and inside a police station, for allegedly writing against Islam’s prophet. The mob dispersed only after an announcement from a nearby mosque declared him dead. For several days, it was unclear whether he had survived, as the media did not report the incident. Eventually, authorities released a photograph of him receiving treatment in a hospital. While we assume he survived, his current condition remains unknown.

On 16th November 2024, Rabi Das, a 21-year-old Hindu, was beaten by both Mullahs and the Security forces to death in Nowabad Bhuiyan Bazar of Kishoreganj’s Karimganj Upazila over an alleged relationship with a Muslim girl.

The Bangladesh Army has been granted magisterial powers to oversee law and order. The Hazari Lane incident was conducted under the Army’s command, signifying direct confrontation between the Army and the civilian population. In September 2024, this same Army targeted the ethnic Buddhist Chakma community in the Chattogram Hills, killing several individuals. Ironically, this is the same Army that participates in UN peacekeeping missions. The issue of human rights abuses by this Army needs urgent international scrutiny.

Currently, a smear campaign against ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) is ongoing in Bangladesh. ISKCON is a global religious organization that promotes non-violence and spiritual practices rooted in Bengal’s ancient Gaudiya-Vaishnava tradition. Despite its apolitical stance, Islamist forces backing the interim government demand the organization’s ban.

A sedition case has been filed against 19 individuals, including a former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, who played a prominent role in the Hindu movement. Though ISKCON has annulled his membership to distance itself from political accusations, authorities have issued an arrest warrant against him to suppress the peaceful movement of Hindus.

The U.S. President-elect, Donald J. Trump, recently tweeted about the dire situation faced by Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh. The safety of religious minorities has been discussed multiple times at the United Nations. Hindus are now mobilizing around an eight-point demand, which includes enacting a “Minority Security Act” to safeguard all religious minorities. We earnestly hope that the UN can pressure the interim government of Bangladesh to accept these demands.

The campaign against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh is a slow-moving pogrom. With the rise of extreme Islamic sentiment, this has escalated into an existential crisis. It now aims to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, which can be termed as “Slow Genocide’.

We need your (UN) help to overcome this assault on the religious and ethnic minorities of Bangladesh. A pluralistic, secular democracy remains the only hope for Bangladesh. We do not want Bangladesh to become Afghanistan 2.0. Please act now to save Bangladesh and protect its Hindu and other religious and ethnic minorities.

Based on the speech of New York-based Sitangshu Guha of the Bangladesh Minority Alliance & National Human Rights, at the HRC-SR Minority Forum, Geneva, on 29 November 2024.