DHAKA – With the elections looming in Bangladesh and the rise of Islami fundamentalism, the Catholic community in the Muslim-majority Central Asian nation is living in fearing persecution.

Before and after previous elections, religious minorities have been subjected to persecution.

In Bangladesh, the ruling Awami League fell in a student-led uprising on August 5, 2024, and the autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.

Since then, the country has seen the rise of Islamic fundamentalists. For this reason, there is fear among the Christian community that they may be persecuted in the run-up to the national elections in February next year.

“Even 25 years after the bombing of our church that killed 10 Catholic believers, we have not got justice yet, nor has any charge sheet been filed for the attack,” said Premananda Haldar, a 48-year-old Catholic.

In 2001, a bomb attack took place during Sunday Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Church in the southern district of Gopalganj, killing 10 and injuring over 50 Catholics.

Premananda Haldar’s younger brother, Suman Haldar, was killed in the attack at the age of 24. Of the 10 dead, 7 were under 30.

Haldar said that there has never been justice after attacks on minority Christians in Bangladesh.

“It has been 25 years since the bomb attack; a new church building has been built in place of the old church. We are also practicing our religion, but the loud sound of that bomb constantly rings in our ears, and the image of that brother’s gruesome body flashes before our eyes,” Haldar said.

In Bangladesh, it is said in politics that religious minorities vote for the Awami League, and when it wins, the opposition attacks. However, when the Awami League loses, they think that the minorities have lost because they did not vote, and minorities are still attacked.

For the Christian minorities, most of the attacks have occurred when the Awami League was in power.

Recently, after the Awami League was ousted, the rise of hardline Islamists is visible in the country, and the higher authorities say this could be a big threat to the Catholic Church.

In July, 11 teachers of Mymensingh Notre Dame College protested for various demands, including their promotion, change in service rules, increase in provident fund, and promotion from lecturer to assistant professor. At one stage of this protest, the college was forced to close classes.

College Principal Holy Cross Father Thadeus Hembrom said this movement is not just a movement to achieve demands.

“They have a hidden agenda behind their movement, otherwise 50 teachers of the college would have protested but only 11 teachers are protesting. Our Catholic institutions are doing well and gaining a good reputation. That is why they are protesting to destroy Catholic institutions,” Hembrom said.

“I think what happened to my family is actually part of God’s plan. So, I am living my life with full faith in God and will continue to do so,” the priest said.

On July 28, vandals s cut down about 3,000 betel trees of the Khasi indigenous of Pratappur Punjee (Khasi Village) in Sylhet district. The only way for the Khasi Catholic to earn money is this betel, which is used in traditional medicine. But the Khasi say that the only way for them to make a living is by cutting down the betel trees and trying to evict them from this place.

“The influential people of the local religious majority Muslim community want to evict us from this place and take it over. They want to expand tea gardens here. That is why they are oppressing us,” said Khasi leader Welcome Lamba.

“We are afraid of the upcoming elections. Because, before and after the elections, we have been subjected to many injustices and this time there is a greater possibility of it. So, we are constantly praying to God to protect us,” Lamba said.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) annual report on violence against religious and ethnic minorities recorded over 1,000 cases of human rights violations in a year.

The interreligious forum’s findings are based on media reports from July 2023 to June 2024.  During this period, 45 members of minority communities were murdered and there were 10 attempted murders and 36 death threats.

The report also recorded 102 acts of vandalism, looting and arson against homes and businesses belonging to minority communities.