Govt must raise minority safety with Bangladesh: Priyanka Gandhi

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Last updated on: December 20, 2025 00:57 IST

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday termed as "extremely disturbing" the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh over alleged blasphemy and urged the Indian government to raise the issue of the safety of Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minorities with the neighbouring country.

IMAGE: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi and other MPs on the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, December 19, 2025. Photograph: ANI Video Grab

The Hindu man was lynched and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Bangladesh, in the latest incident of violence against the religious minority in the country.

The deceased, identified as 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, was a factory worker in Mymensingh city, the Bangla Tribune news portal reported on Friday.

"The news of the brutal murder of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das by a mob in Bangladesh is extremely disturbing. In any civilized society, discrimination, violence, and murder based on religion, caste, or identity are crimes against humanity," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

 

"The Indian government should take note of the increasing violence against Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minorities in the neighbouring country and raise the issue of their safety and security forcefully with the Bangladeshi government," she said.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also sought the Centre's intervention.

In a post on X, Gehlot said reports of renewed violence and attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh were "extremely worrying and condemnable".

"It is surprising that the Government of India has remained a mute spectator on such a sensitive issue for a long time. This silence is emboldening anti-India external forces operating there," he said.

The former Rajasthan chief minister urged the Centre to abandon its "wait and watch" approach and take immediate diplomatic steps to ensure the safety of minorities living in Bangladesh.

In a statement, the interim government of Bangladesh on Friday condemned the lynching of the Hindu man in Mymensingh city, saying there is no space for such violence in the new Bangladesh. "The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared," it added.

Das was first beaten up by a mob outside the factory over blasphemy allegations on Thursday night and hanged from a tree, police said.

"After the incident, the angry crowd left the body of the deceased on the side of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and set it on fire. This stopped traffic on both sides of the highway," Inspector (Investigation) of Bhaluka Model Police Station Abdul Malek was quoted as saying by the news portal.

The police recovered the body and sent it to the Mymensingh Medical College morgue for autopsy.

Malek added that the incident created tension in the area, and the police are trying to control the situation.

The video of the incident went viral on social media.

"We strongly and unequivocally condemn all acts of violence, intimidation, arson, and destruction of properties," the interim government said.

"At this critical hour, we call upon every citizen to honour Hadi by rejecting and resisting violence, incitement and hatred," it said, referring to the death of the prominent July Uprising leader six days after he was shot by masked gunmen in Dhaka.

The Hindu population in Bangladesh has been affected by a series of incidents against minority communities in the country after the ouster of then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year