Stabbed and Burned: How a Hindu Man Survived a Mob Attack in Bangladesh

New Year's Eve in Shariatpur district ended in horror when 50-year-old Hindu businessman Khokon Chandra Das was brutally attacked by a mob while returning home. Stabbed, beaten, and doused with petrol, Das was set on fire in a chilling echo of recent violence. In a desperate bid for survival, he leaped into a nearby pond to extinguish the flames—an act that likely saved his life but left him battling severe burns and stab wounds in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. This marks the fourth major attack on Hindus in Bangladesh in just two weeks, signaling a terrifying acceleration of targeted violence following the political vacuum left by Sheikh Hasina's ouster.

The Context (How We Got Here)

The attack on Khokon is not an isolated crime; it is part of a systemic surge. Since mid-December 2025 alone, the country has witnessed the lynching of garment worker Dipu Chandra Das over blasphemy allegations and the torching of five Hindu homes in Pirojpur. This immediate spike sits atop a longer trend: between August 2024 and June 2025, rights groups documented over 2,400 incidents of communal violence. The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, faces mounting criticism for its erratic response—oscillating between condemning "heinous attacks" and dismissing reports of persecution as "fake news," creating a climate of impunity for Islamist extremist groups filling the power void.

The Key Players (Who & So What)

• Khokon Chandra Das (The Victim): A pharmacist and mobile banking operator, his targeting suggests that minority businesses are prime targets. His wife's statement that he "recognized two attackers" points to a disturbing reality: the perpetrators are often neighbors or locals known to the victims, emboldened by the breakdown of law and order.
• Muhammad Yunus (The Chief Adviser): Tasked with stabilizing the nation, his leadership is under fire. By downplaying the violence against minorities as exaggerated, critics argue he is inadvertently gaslighting the victims and shielding the perpetrators from international scrutiny.
• The Police: Despite identifying two suspects (Rabbi and Sohag) within 24 hours, no arrests have been made. This pattern of "identification without apprehension" raises serious questions about the capability—or willingness—of rural law enforcement to protect vulnerable minorities.

The BIGSTORY Reframe

While mainstream coverage focuses on the "Religious Hate Crime" narrative, the deeper story is the "State Capacity Collapse." The inability of the police to arrest known attackers in a small rural district suggests a breakdown of state authority, not just religious friction. When a government cannot enforce the law against mob violence, it signals a dangerous drift toward anarchy where minorities are the first, but not the last, victims.

Furthermore, the "Diplomatic Denialism" angle is critical. The friction between India and Bangladesh over these attacks is not just geopolitical posturing; it has real-world consequences. As long as Dhaka views safety concerns raised by New Delhi as "interference" or "fake news," the actual human rights crisis on the ground remains unaddressed, trapped in a diplomatic stalemate while citizens burn.

The Implications (Why This Changes Things)

If this frequency of attacks continues—four in two weeks—it could trigger a new wave of distress migration into India, reigniting cross-border tensions. Domestically, it threatens to shatter the inclusive image the interim government is trying to project to the West. For Bangladesh's 12 million Hindus, the message is stark: the state's protection is thinning, and survival may increasingly depend on individual desperation—like jumping into a pond to escape a mob.

The Closing Question (Now, Think About This)

If a government dismisses violence against its own citizens as "fake news," who is left to hear the screams of the victims?

FAQs

What happened to Khokon Chandra Das in Bangladesh? On December 31, 2025, Khokon Chandra Das, a 50-year-old Hindu businessman, was attacked by a mob in Shariatpur. He was stabbed, doused with petrol, and set on fire. He survived by jumping into a nearby pond to extinguish the flames and is now in critical condition in Dhaka.

Why are Hindus being attacked in Bangladesh right now? Attacks have surged following the political instability after Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August 2024. Rights groups point to a power vacuum filled by extremist elements, exacerbated by what critics call the interim government's dismissal of minority persecution reports as "fake news."

How many attacks on Hindus have occurred recently? Khokon Chandra Das's case is the fourth major incident in just two weeks (December 18–31, 2025). This follows a reported 2,400+ incidents of communal violence documented by rights groups between August 2024 and June 2025.

Sources

News Coverage

• New Indian Express – Hindu man stabbed, set on fire in Bangladesh
• Hindustan Times – Hindu businessman attacked with sharp weapons
• India Today – Another Hindu youth stabbed, set on fire

Context & Data

• GNN Asia – Bangladesh’s Hindu minority under siege
• Hindu Existence – 2,442 incidents reported in last 11 months