Bangladesh's Hindu minority in fear as attacks rise and a national election nears

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old Hindu garment worker, was accused in December by several Muslim colleagues of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. The accusations drew a violent mob to his workplace. He was beaten to death, his body hung from a tree and set on fire.

Across Bangladesh, Hindus watched the recorded images on their phones with dread. Protests erupted in Dhaka and other cities, with demonstrators demanding justice and greater protections. The interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, ordered an investigation, and police said that about a dozen people were arrested.

But human rights groups and Hindu leaders say the killing wasn't an isolated act, but part of a wider surge in attacks on the minority community, fueled by rising polarization, the reemergence of Islamists and what they describe as a growing culture of impunity. Among Hindus, fear has grown more pervasive as the Muslim-majority nation moves toward a national election on Feb. 12.

“No one feels safe anymore,” said Ranjan Karmaker, a Dhaka-based Hindu human rights activist. “Everyone is terrified.”

Hindus make up a small minority in Bangladesh, about 13.1 million people, or roughly 8% of the country’s population of 170 million, while Muslims make up 91%.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, an umbrella group representing minority communities, says it documented more than 2,000 incidents of communal violence since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a mass uprising in August 2024.

The group recorded at least 61 killings, 28 instances of violence against women — among them rape and gang rape — and 95 attacks on places of worship involving vandalism, looting and arson. It has also accused the Yunus-led administration of routinely dismissing or downplaying reports of such violence.

When contacted by The Associated Press for a response, an official from Yunus’ press team declined to comment. The administration headed by Yunus has consistently denied claims that it has failed to ensure adequate protection for minority communities and insisted that most incidents aren't driven by religious hostility.

Previous elections in Bangladesh have also seen increases in violence, with religious minorities often bearing the brunt. But with Hasina’s Awami League party barred from contesting elections and with her living in exile in India, many Hindus fear the worst as they have long been viewed as aligned with Hasina.

Karmaker, the rights activist, said that Hindus are often perceived as voting en masse for one side, a perception that heightens their vulnerability. He said that the community was also gripped by fear because of a culture of impunity, and near-weekly incidents, warning that in some parts of the country the Hindu community was facing “an existential crisis.”

“The individuals involved in this violence are not being brought under the law, nor are they being held accountable through the justice system. It creates the impression that the violence will continue,” Karmaker said.

The surge in attacks against Hindus has unfolded alongside the reemergence of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, and its student wing. After years on the political sidelines because of bans, arrests and sustained crackdowns under Hasina’s government, the party sees the election as an opportunity to reclaim influence.

Jamaat-e-Islami anchors a broader Islamist alliance of 11 parties, among them the student-led National Citizen Party, or NCP, whose leaders played a central role in the 2024 uprising.

As concerns grow over what its return could mean for religious minorities, Jamaat-e-Islami has moved to recast its public image, even though it advocates Shariah, or Islamic law. It has organized public rallies featuring Hindu participants and nominated a Hindu community leader as one of its candidates.

Meanwhile, NCP has pledged to support citizens facing religious discrimination and said that if elected, it would establish a dedicated unit within the Human Rights Commission to protect minority rights.

Political analyst Altaf Parvez said that such decisions were largely symbolic. He said that other political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, had also failed minorities by nominating only a handful of candidates — a move, he said, that didn't reflect a genuine political commitment to inclusive politics.

Parvez said a systematic pattern of attacks was taking place in rural areas to inject more fear among the minorities before the vote.

“It will impact the participation of the voters from the minority communities in the next elections too,” he said.

Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have also inflamed tensions with neighboring India, prompting protests by Hindu nationalist groups and criticism from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

India’s Foreign Ministry recently accused Bangladesh of downplaying a “disturbing pattern of recurring attacks” on Hindus, saying such violence was wrongly blamed on personal or political disputes. Bangladesh, in turn, described India’s criticism as “systematic attempts” to stoke anti-Bangladesh sentiments.

The dispute has spilled into diplomacy and sporting events. Both sides have suspended some visa services and accused each other of failing to protect diplomatic missions. Protests in India led cricket officials to bar a Bangladeshi player from the Indian Premier League tournament, followed by Bangladesh’s boycott of this month’s World Cup in India.

Sreeradha Datta, a Bangladesh expert at India’s Jindal School of International Affairs, said that India’s concerns were “legitimate.”

"Hindus in Bangladesh are a very vulnerable group that can’t defend themselves, and Yunus’ administration is in exit mode and deliberately looking the other way,” she said.

For those caught in the violence, the losses have been deeply personal.

When word of Das’ killing reached his home village in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, disbelief settled in among relatives and neighbors. Many said they watched images of his killing on their phones.

“When people say they saw it on their phones, my chest feels like it is going to burst,” his father said.

Das was known as a quiet, well-behaved man. He was also the sole breadwinner for his family, relatives said, and his death has left his wife and mother facing an uncertain future.

His mother, Shefali Rani Das, said the family is seeking justice for the killing.

“They beat him, hung him from a tree, and burned him. I demand justice,” she said.

Sheikh Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

Meghna Rani, wife of Dipu Chandra Das, weeps inside her home in Tarakanda village, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Meghna Rani, wife of Dipu Chandra Das, plays with her daughter outside their home in Tarakanda village, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Robilal Chandra Das, father of Dipu Chandra Das, 27, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press inside his home in Tarakanda village, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

A portrait of Dipu Chandra Das hangs alongside images of Hindu deities inside his home in Tarakanda village, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Meghna Rani, wife of Dipu Chandra Das, weeps inside her home in Tarakanda village, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

A tree stands on a road divider where the body of 27-year-old Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das was hung and set on fire by a mob on Dec. 18, 2025, in Gazipur near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law has eased up on two longstanding financial hurdles for people with felony sentences who want their voting rights back, including a unique requirement among states that they must have fully paid their child support costs.

The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.

Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.

“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.

Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.

“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.

In 2023 and early 2024, the state decided that the system did require going to court or showing proof of a pardon, not just a paperwork process, and that gun rights were required to restore the right to vote. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.

Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.

Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.

“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”

Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”

For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.

Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.

The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.

Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.

Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.

Last year marked the dismissal of a nearly five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.

Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.

Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.

In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.

Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.

Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.

However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)