"A spate of recent attacks has amplified fears among the country's religious minorities ahead of the February 12 vote, even though the government insists most incidents have been ordinary crimes. Dhaka, Bangladesh Sukumar Pramanik, a Hindu teacher in Rajshahi city about 250km (155 miles) from Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka says the country's upcoming national election could be his final test of trust in politics."
"But since August 2024, and the end of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's rule, minorities in Bangladesh have felt under siege, with reports of attacks, killings and arson against their property, even though the government insists that most incidents were not motivated by religious hate. That backdrop has intensified fears ahead of the February 12 election, despite efforts by leading political parties to reach out to minority communities."
"The leaders of major parties have assured us that we will be safe before and after the vote, Pramanik said, but faith in politicians runs low in his community at the moment. After the August 2024 uprising that led to Hasina's ouster, mobs in several parts of the country targeted the Hindu community, many of whose members had historically voted for Hasina's Awami League,"
Religious minorities in Bangladesh have experienced a surge of attacks and fear ahead of the February 12 national election. Reports since August 2024 describe attacks, killings and arson targeting minority property amid the end of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's rule. Electoral periods in Bangladesh historically coincide with spikes in communal and political violence, often affecting minorities. Major parties have reached out and offered assurances of safety, but trust among minority communities remains low. Individual accounts describe physical assaults and lasting trauma, while critics fault past governments for failing to prevent such attacks.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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