By Rajiv Menon 
New Delhi, December 20: In a village in Mymensingh, a man was killed in full public view. He was Hindu. A crowd accused him of blasphemy. They tied him to a tree. They beat him. When that was done, they set his body on fire. By the time police arrived, the violence had already finished what it came to do. The account, first reported by The Times of India, landed amid days of unrest across Bangladesh, where protests, arson, and street clashes have left the country uneasy and volatile. This was not an isolated crime. It happened in a moment when authority was thin, and anger was thick. That combination has consequences.
A Killing That Followed a Familiar Script
Those who have followed communal violence in Bangladesh over the years will recognise the sequence. An allegation surfaces. A crowd gathers quickly. The state arrives late. The damage is already done. Blasphemy accusations, especially, have carried a particular menace. They are rarely tested. They are rarely questioned. Once shouted aloud, they become permission. In Mymensingh, there was no trial, no verification, no pause. Only certainty. The certainty of the mob.
Unrest Before, Silence After
The country was already on edge following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, whose supporters poured onto the streets in Dhaka and other cities. What began as protests soon turned destructive. Buildings burned. Roads were blocked. Newsrooms were attacked. According to reports, journalists were threatened, and equipment was damaged. In that atmosphere, facts travelled slowly. Rumours did not. When order weakens, minorities are rarely spared the fallout.
The Government Speaks
The interim administration, led by Muhammad Yunus, condemned the killing. Yunus said the perpetrators would not be spared and appealed for calm.
It was the right statement. It was also a familiar one. Minority groups have heard similar assurances before. Investigations announced. Committees formed. Cases that stretch on quietly until attention moves elsewhere. What matters now is not tone, but follow-through.
India Watches Closely
The lynching quickly crossed the border politically. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the situation “extremely alarming, urging the Indian government to take note of rising violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
Her remarks, carried by The Tribune, were measured. Others were not. BJP leaders in West Bengal spoke of a pattern, not an aberration. Regional outlets amplified that charge. The debate hardened. For New Delhi, the moment is uncomfortable. Bangladesh is a strategic partner. It is also a neighbour where religious violence has domestic political resonance in India.
Neither reality can be ignored.
A Community That Keeps Retreating
Hindus today make up just over eight per cent of Bangladesh’s population. The decline has been steady for decades. Migration. Fear. Property disputes. Periodic violence.
Each crisis leaves fewer behind. The Mymensingh killing has reopened old calculations inside Hindu households. Stay quiet. Stay invisible. Or leave. Those decisions are rarely announced. They happen slowly, at kitchen tables, long after headlines fade.
What This Exposes
This was not just a lynching. It was a reminder of how fragile protection becomes when politics collapses into the street. When rumours outrun police. When faith becomes a weapon. Whether Bangladesh can interrupt this cycle will depend on what follows now. Arrests. Charges. Convictions. Not statements. Until then, the silence after the fire says more than the slogans that came before it.
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- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/rajiv/
Ananya Sharma and Rajiv Menon