For minorities, Bangladesh’s election is a litmus test of security

Bangladesh's upcoming election highlights minorities' urgent demand for security amid rising violence and political tensions.

‘Pranto Das Gupta, a 22-year-old from Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community, is preparing to cast his first vote in the upcoming national elections. Living in Dhaka, around 300 km from his ancestral village in Satkania, Chattogram, Mr. Gupta plans to travel home to vote with his family on February 12, as the country heads into its first election since the dramatic fall of Sheikh Hasina in an uprising in August 2024.

For the first-time voter, the lofty promises in party manifestos from trillion-dollar economies to constitutional reform ring hollow against the lived reality of arson, vandalism and intimidation.

“We don’t want clashes. We don’t want promises. All we ask for is safety,” Mr. Gupta said. “People in my village will go to the polling centres and vote for whoever they think can ensure their safety.”

This plea for basic security has emerged as the overwhelming, non-partisan demand of religious minorities, who make up roughly 10% of the population, as campaign rallies intensify and polling day draws closer.

According to a recent report by the Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), at least 56 targeted attacks on minority communities were recorded in the 17 months leading up to the election. These incidents included the desecration of temples, vandalism of homes, and physical assaults, leaving one person dead and 27 injured. Transparency International Bangladesh reported more than 50 such attacks in 2025, while Ain-e-Salish Kendra documented 42 incidents.

The Chief Adviser’s Office, however, has offered a different assessment. It said that of the 645 incidents involving minority community members recorded in 2025, only 71 were communal in nature, while the remaining cases were linked to general criminal activity.