Buddhist community says minorities in Bangladesh facing severe repression, violence

Colombo, Jan 21 (IANS) Highlighting that Buddhist minorities and other religious communities in Bangladesh are facing severe repression and violence, the Sri Lanka–Bangladesh Buddhist Solidarity Front has urged Buddhists across the world to unite for protecting their rights, especially those of indigenous Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a report has stated.

Addressing a media briefing in Kandy recently, the Front’s Secretary, Shastrava and Tripitaka scholar, Kavissara Thero of Nuwara Eliya, said that the future of Buddhist indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts under significant threat, Sri Lankan media outlet Ceylon Wire News reported.

Venerable Kavissara Thero stressed that attacks on Buddhists in Bangladesh is not a recent phenomenon and recalled the 2012 incidents in which extremists destroyed 19 Buddhist temples and around 100 Buddhist homes. He stated that political instability after Awami League government's ouster last year has resulted in increase of violence against the Buddhist community.

Recent reports have revealed that 2,442 incidents of violence against religious minorities were recorded in Bangladesh during 2024 and 2025. As many as 25 Buddhist temples were targetted in the first three months of 2025. Four Buddhist tribal members were killed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts while looting and arson attacks at homes of Buddhists continue.

Thero said that Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh are also facing similar threats and stressed the need for a united effort to protect the civil and human rights of all religious minorities. The Sri Lanka–Bangladesh Buddhist Solidarity Front urged Mahanayake Theros of Sri Lanka, the entire Maha Sangha, and Buddhists across the world to make efforts for protecting Bangladesh’s Buddhist heritage and the right to life of its Buddhist population, Ceylon Wire News reported.

Notably, Bangladesh has witnessed rising cases of attacks on the Hindu community ever since the Hasina-led government was toppled and an interim administration was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus.

Earlier this month, the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) highlighted escalating attacks on minorities across the country, documenting over a hundred deaths within a seven-month period.

The rights body alleged that violence reflects a nationwide pattern of targeting minorities rather than isolated incidents.

“Between June 6, 2025 –January 5, 2026, 116 minority deaths were documented across all 8 divisions and 45 districts of Bangladesh, spanning lynching, murder, and suspicious deaths. This is not isolated violence. It is a nationwide pattern of targeted atrocities,” HRCBM posted on X.