DHAKA – Christians in Bangladesh are alarmed after crude bomb blasts hit at least three institutions in the capital Dhaka.

Christian leaders have called on the government to ensure the security of the minority Christian community during the upcoming Christmas celebrations and national elections through human chains and rallies.

On November 7, two crude bombs were thrown at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Dhaka, one of which remained unexploded. The next day, the Jubilee was celebrated at the cathedral with the presence of 600 people from all over the country. A few hours later, a bomb exploded at the gate of St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School and College, just a few miles away from the cathedral.

Exactly a month before this incident, on October 8, a similar bomb was exploded at the gate of the Holy Rosary Church in a Christian-dominated area of Dhaka.

On November 18, more than a hundred people from the Christian community held a protest rally in front of the National Press Club in the capital, Dhaka.

“We, who are Christians, believe in Jesus, are peace-loving people, but we have to do this human chain, we have to take to the streets, it is sad for the state,” said Father Albert Thomas Rozario, the parish priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

The priest said that a third party carried out the bomb blast due to the government’s weakness. He said for this reason, the government should strengthen the law enforcement agencies.

“The government must take immediate action to ensure that such an incident does not happen anywhere else,” Rozario said.

National elections are scheduled for February next year in the Muslim-majority country, where Christians number just 500,000 out of a population of 170 million. Incidents of persecution of minorities before and after national elections are not new in this country.

“In the wake of these incidents, there is clear concern among the Christian community. Now the government should take visible steps and take steps to ensure that this does not happen again,” said Nirmal Rozario, the president of the Bangladesh Christian Association.

“We have expressed our demand through the human chain that the government should ensure the safety of everyone, including the Christian community in Bangladesh,” he said.

The Bangladesh Christian Association claims that the country’s minority community has been persecuted in various ways since the fall of Sheikh Hasina government in a massive uprising on August 5, 2024.

Hasina fled the country to India. The international crimes tribunal sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity on November 17.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council recorded 2,624 attacks on minority homes, shops, and places of worship — mostly against Hindus — between Aug. 5, 2024, and Oct. 31, 2025.

John Gomes, president of the Bangladesh Christian Forum and a senior leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is leading the way in forming the government in the upcoming national elections, was in the human chain.

“We have Christmas ahead, but the bomb blasts in front of religious institutions and the church in several places have made the Christian community anxious,” Gomes said.

He said that in this situation, the government must take all measures to provide security to all Christian institutions across the country.