Dhaka, August 14: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has provided financial aid and rehabilitation to Hindu families targeted in recent mob attacks in Bangladesh’s Rangpur district, even as India raised concerns over thousands of incidents of violence against minorities in the country.
According to an ISKCON statement, 18 families in Gangachara Upazila received beds, cooking utensils, religious items, and rations including 15 kilograms of rice, pulses, flour, sugar, oils, salt, and spices. Each household was also given a copy of the Bhagavad Gita.
In a separate incident in Taraganj, Rangpur, ISKCON said it paid 25,000 taka in compensation to the relatives of Ruplal Rabi Das and his son-in-law Pradeep Rabidas, who were lynched by a mob. Senior ISKCON leaders, including Bangladesh General Secretary Charuchandra Das and Rangpur division officials, were present during the handover.
The development comes after India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Parliament that New Delhi had flagged 3,582 cases of violence against minorities in Bangladesh since 2021, alongside 334 incidents in Pakistan. He said India has pressed Dhaka at the “highest levels” to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Bangladesh’s interim government under Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus is struggling to follow through on promised reforms a year after Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. HRW said arbitrary detentions and politically motivated arrests remain common, while reforms of security forces have stalled.
Mob and political violence also continue. In July, at least 14 Hindu homes were vandalized in Rangpur, while attacks on minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts persist. Although the government has ratified the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearances and created 11 reform commissions, accountability for past abuses has been slow due to resistance from security agencies.