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Published on December 27, 2025
As Christmas approached this year, police stood guard outside churches across Bangladesh’s capital, while Christian families shortened celebrations, installed private security cameras and avoided nighttime services. For many, the precautions reflected a grim new reality: a sharp rise in threats and attacks against Christians since the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus assumed power.
Human rights groups, church leaders and international monitors say the Christian community — already a tiny minority in a Muslim-majority nation — is facing an unprecedented climate of fear marked by hate speech, bomb attacks, economic intimidation and what they describe as near-total impunity for perpetrators.
In December 2025, a BBC Bangla investigation documented a wave of threat letters sent to Christian institutions across the country, heightening anxiety ahead of Christmas and national elections scheduled for February. According to the report, at least 21 Christian-affiliated organizations received letters accusing them, without evidence, of forcibly converting Muslims. The threats explicitly named churches, cathedrals, chapels and missionary-run institutions as targets.
BBC Bangla reported that the senders identified themselves as “Tawhidi Muslim Janata,” a radical Islamist group that has gained visibility since last year. Christian leaders noted that many of the targeted institutions had operated for decades without facing such threats before the current political transition.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/bengali/articles/ckg97qzp6nvo
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh publicly warned of escalating danger earlier this month. Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Dhaka said the situation posed “grave concern for the Catholic Church,” particularly as the country approaches both major religious celebrations and a national election. The conference issued its statement on December 3, urging authorities to ensure protection and accountability.
Those fears intensified on December 24, when attackers struck a church compound housing several Christian institutions, including the Church of Bangladesh, the Christian Religious Order Trust and the Bible Society. Despite a police presence in the area, one person was killed in the attack.
Nirmal Rozario, president of the Bangladesh Christian Community, said the incident had shaken Christians nationwide. He linked it to a broader pattern of mob violence against minorities, citing the recent lynching and public humiliation of a Hindu boy accused of blasphemy — an episode in which, witnesses said, law enforcement failed to intervene.
Rights groups say the Christmas Eve attack was part of a wider pattern that has emerged since August 5 last year, when Yunus rose to power amid political upheaval. Since then, several churches and Christian-run schools in Dhaka and elsewhere have been hit by crude bomb or cocktail-blast attacks. At least seven such explosions have been reported in the past two months alone, according to advocacy organizations.
Authorities have announced investigations, but activists say arrests have been rare or nonexistent. At the same time, minorities are increasingly labeled by hardline groups as supporters of the Awami League, a charge that community leaders say has further exposed them to reprisals.
Source: https://persecution.org/2025/11/14/cathedral-catholic-school-bombed-in-bangladesh/
Violence has not been limited to physical attacks. In January, a Christian man’s pig farm was destroyed by a mob after a local mosque issued a religious decree banning pig farming. Witnesses said police failed to intervene as the property was vandalized, effectively wiping out the family’s livelihood.
Source: https://www.csi-int.org/news/attack-on-christians-in-bangladesh-deepens-pre-election-unease/
Open Doors, a global Christian watchdog, reports that targeted violence has forced many Christians into hiding. In an April assessment, the organization documented at least 36 confirmed attacks on Christians and their property between August and April, with more than 100 families pressured to renounce their faith. It warned that many incidents go unreported due to fear, stigma and lack of trust in authorities.
https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/bangladesh-renewed-attacks/
BBC Bangla also reported continued localized intimidation, including the burning of a Christian-run credit center in Modonpur, deliberate dumping of garbage outside a Baptist church in a port city, and repeated attempts to seize church land in Gopalganj. In several cases, residents said police declined to intervene despite complaints.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/bengali/articles/ckg97qzp6nvo
On November 16, Pope Francis publicly cited Bangladesh alongside Nigeria as countries where Christians face “ruthless persecution.” Yet beyond expressions of concern, international response has remained limited, according to minority advocates.
For Christian leaders, the silence is deeply troubling. They argue that the Yunus administration’s failure to decisively confront extremist groups — some of which openly promote Sharia law and include previously freed militants — has emboldened attackers and normalized impunity.
As Bangladesh moves toward elections, the country’s Christians say their immediate concern is not politics but survival. “Silence emboldens extremists,” one church leader said. “Accountability is the only thing that protects lives.”
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