Minority groups in Bangladesh on Monday staged protests in Dhaka, calling out the interim government for failing to prevent persecution of minorities.
The demonstrations came as authorities announced the arrest of 21 suspects linked to the lynching of a Hindu man, attacks on media offices, and violent protests near an Indian diplomatic mission.
Leaders of Hindu and other minority organisations formed a human chain in the capital, condemning the killing of Dipu Chandra Das and saying the interim government has failed to stop violence, killings, and persecution of minority communities.
Das, a garment factory worker in central Mymensingh city, was dragged out of his workplace by a mob and lynched on Thursday. His body was later set on fire.
The incident triggered widespread protests by factory workers, students, and rights groups, while India expressed concerns.
"He (Muhammad Yunus) claims he will build a humane Bangladesh, but in reality, he is an inhumane chief adviser," joint coordinator of the Minority Unity Front Manindra Kumar Nath told the protesters in front of Jatiya Press Club.
The Hindu population in Bangladesh has faced a series of attacks since the ouster of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested 10 suspects in connection with Das’ lynching, while police later detained two more. A police headquarters spokesman on Monday said 12 people are now in custody as investigations continue.
Authorities also arrested nine individuals over violent attacks on the mass circulation newspapers Prothom Alo and Daily Star, and cultural organisations Chhayanat and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi in Dhaka.
Police and government statements said 31 suspects had been identified in total, based on video footage. Three others were linked to disturbances outside the residence of India’s assistant high commissioner in Chattogram.
The interim government called on citizens to remain vigilant against hate-driven violence, arson, and destruction, emphasising that no one involved would be spared.
Mob violence has spread across Dhaka and other major cities following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, leader of the right-wing cultural group Inqilab Mancha, who was shot in the head on December 12 and later died in Singapore.
Hadi was known for his rhetoric against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her Awami League party, and India, and had played a leading role in last year’s July Uprising that toppled Hasina’s government.
Unidentified gunmen on Monday shot Motaleb Shikder, another leader of the 2024 student-led uprising, in southwestern Khulna city. His condition remains critical.
"The Khulna Division head of NCP (National Citizen Party) and central coordinator of the party’s workers front, Motaleb Shikder, was shot a few minutes ago," NCP’s joint principal coordinator Mahmuda Mitu said in a Facebook post.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), now a major force after Awami League’s exit, called for a national awakening against mob violence.
“Those of us who truly want to see Bangladesh as a genuinely independent, sovereign and democratic country cannot remain merely aware any longer; we must stand up. It is time to put up resistance against mobs,” BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
At a press conference of the Editors’ Council and Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab), Alamgir added, “I am now 78 years old and the Bangladesh we are seeing today is not the Bangladesh I ever dreamed of.”
British journalist David Bergman, connected to Bangladesh through marriage, attributed the incidents to a right-wing and Islamist group with an “extreme and uninformed mindset.”
"There is a strong vocal group in Bangladesh, from the right and particularly the Islamic right, who think that unless you hate the people they hate (meaning, right now India, the Awami League, etc) as much as they themselves hate them, you are their enemies, and you are friends and agents of those they hate,” Bergman wrote.
He added, “This extreme and uninformed mindset is the enemy of a free press and is helping to prevent anything remotely like due process to develop within the country’s criminal justice system.”
