Khokon Das Succumbs to Burn Injuries in Dhaka Hospital, Fifth Hindu to be Killed in Current Hostility

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 3: Khokon Chandra Das, a Hindu man who was attacked with sharp weapons and set on fire in Bangladesh three days ago, died on Saturday while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka, his family said.

Das who had managed to jump into a pond on the roadside to douse the fire and was rescued by some local people, had been battling for his life since the assault. The attack has renewed concerns over the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh, particularly as the country witnesses heightened tensions in the run-up to elections.

This was the fifth death of a person from the Hindu community since December, and radical groups in Bangladesh are visibly trying to intimidate the minority faiths, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council spokesman Kajol Debnath said.

Khokon Chandra Das, 50, was assaulted near Keurbhanga Bazar in Damudya in Shariatpur district, about 100 kilometres south of Dhaka, on Wednesday night while returning home after closing his shop. “Das died this morning after battling for life for three days,” Mr Debnath confirmed.

Das, who ran a medicine shop and mobile banking business, was travelling in an autorickshaw when the attackers intercepted the vehicle and allegedly beat him up, hacked him with sharp weapons and then poured petrol on his head before setting him on fire, media reports had said on Thursday.

In a bid to save himself, Das jumped into a roadside pond as locals raised an alarm. The attackers fled the scene, police said, adding that he was rescued by locals, taken to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital, and then referred to Dhaka due to the severity of his injuries.

Khokon Das’ wife Seema Das said she can’t understand why her husband was attacked so brutally as the family had no enemies in the area. “We have no dispute with anyone on any issue. We don’t understand why my husband was suddenly targeted,” Seema Das said before she broke down outside the hospital in Dhaka.

Doctors in Dhaka said Das suffered multiple injuries across his body, including a serious wound to his abdomen, along with burn injuries on his face, head and hands. “This is the fifth death of a Hindu man in one month [December]. During the month, we recorded seven attacks on the community,” Mr Debnath said, fearing rightwing radical groups in Bangladesh were trying to intimidate the minority faiths.

“The use of petrol or gunpowder to torch someone or someone’s household is an ominous sign, not just criminal acts… perhaps we are witnessing the rise of a radical [rightwing] culture,” Mr Debnath said.

On December 18, 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh city. A week later, on December 23, unidentified men set on fire a Qatar expatriate workers Shukh Shil and Anil Shil’s home in Raojan area on the outskirts of Chattogram, but the residents managed to come out of the building unharmed.

On December 24, another Hindu man Amrit Mondal was lynched over alleged extortion in Rajbari town’s Pangsha upazila. Mr Debnath, however, did not elaborate on the other two deaths. According to the 2022 census, the Hindu population in Bangladesh is approximately 13.13 million, which accounts for about 7.9% of the country’s total population.

There has been a spate of violence targeting the minority community in the country in the last few weeks, and mob violence or clandestine attacks have emerged as a major crisis in Bangladesh’s changed political landscape, political observers said.

Several hundred Sufi shrines of liberal Muslim saints who preached Islam in the region were attacked and damaged as well in the past one year and in one such recent incident, the fanatic elements dug up the body of a spiritual man and set it on fire damaging his shrine.

Seema Das had pointed out the attackers were Muslims, and requested the police and the Bangladesh government to help her family. She said her husband was set on fire after he recognised two of the attackers.

Bangladesh has been seeing escalating violence against minorities, including Hindus, under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, sparking outrage among people and several human rights organisations across the globe. While officials working with Yunus claim they are protecting minorities, the ground reports say otherwise.

India has several times voiced grave concern over the “unremitting hostility” against minorities in Bangladesh, and asserted that it was keeping a close watch on the ongoing developments in its neighbourhood. In a statement, the Bangladesh government said it remained committed to protecting minorities.