Heart and Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh: Part one
Jan 3, 2025
The podcast dives into the harrowing plight of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh amid political turmoil. It features gripping accounts from two university students dedicated to documenting violence against their community. Heart-wrenching survivor stories reveal deep-seated trauma and the emotional scars left by attacks. The strained relationship with law enforcement highlights a pervasive mistrust, while personal narratives underscore the urgent call for awareness and justice in a climate of fear.
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Student Protests and Violence
Shukanto and Bonamali, two Hindu students, actively protested against the Bangladeshi government.
After the government fell, violence erupted, targeting Hindus, including Bonamali's politically uninvolved father.
insights INSIGHT
Media Misinformation
Initial media attention on the attacks waned after distorted reports emerged from far-right influencers.
Sensationalist Indian media coverage further muddied the waters, leading to global neglect of the real violence.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Burash Harodobi Attacks
In Burash Harodobi, a Hindu-majority village, 17 houses and 3 temples were burned down.
Sahar Zand visits the village with Shukanto and Bonamali, witnessing the devastation firsthand.
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In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political unrest and the student-led protests that led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, the country is facing a period of transition and uncertainty. Amid the chaos, harrowing videos and reports of violent attacks against the Hindu minority flooded social media—images of burning buildings, horrifying violence, and women weeping as they pleaded for help. However, some began to doubt the veracity and authenticity of these videos after they seemed to be sensationalised by right-wing influencers and news outlets in neighbouring India.
Despite this, shocking new videos of alleged attacks continue to appear on social media, with little or no acknowledgement from a world that is now questioning their legitimacy. In the first episode of a two-part series for BBC World Service’s Heart & Soul, reporter Sahar Zand travels to Bangladesh to investigate the truth behind the contradictory news headlines and the contrasting videos emerging daily online. There, Sahar follows two Hindu university students, Sukanto and Banamali, who have made it their mission to verify and document what they describe as brutal assaults on their community, determined to set the record straight.
Sahar follows Sukanto and Banamali as they travel to some of the worst-affected areas, and sees and hears firsthand accounts of homes burned, families separated, temples desecrated, and entire villages torn apart by mob violence. Despite their tireless efforts to report the truth, the two friends say that the Hindu experience in Bangladesh has been met with silence from both the world's media and the country's authorities.