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Impact on India-Bangladesh Relations
DR.MAHESH KAUL
The brutal lynching of Dipu Chandra Das on December 18, 2025, in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, has emerged as a flashpoint in the deteriorating relationship between India and Bangladesh, highlighting deep-seated tensions over minority rights, political transitions, and regional power dynamics. The incident, which saw a 27-year-old Hindu garment worker beaten, hanged from a tree, and set ablaze by a mob, has catalysed widespread condemnation internationally and intensified diplomatic friction between two neighbours whose relationship has historically been held up as a model of South Asian stability
The Tragedy of Dipu Chandra Das
Dipu Chandra Das worked at the Pioneer Knit Composite Factory in Bhaluka, supporting his disabled father, mother, wife, and three-year-old daughter. On the evening of December 18, during an event marking World Arabic Language Day at the factory, Das was accused of making derogatory remarks about Islam. The allegation spread rapidly through the factory and surrounding areas, sparking immediate outrage.
What followed was nothing short of a public execution. A mob gathered demanding Das be handed over. According to reports, factory management attempted to defuse the situation by arranging a “fake resignation” and locking Das in a security room while calling police around 8 PM—three hours after the chaos erupted. However, as shift change approached, more workers and local residents gathered outside. The situation spiralled beyond control, and Das was ultimately dragged from the premises.
Eyewitness accounts and videos circulated on social media showed the horrifying scene: Das was beaten savagely, tied to a tree, and set on fire. His body was left on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, creating a traffic jam that lasted nearly three hours and prevented law enforcement from reaching the scene in time.
Perhaps most disturbing is what investigators discovered later: there was no evidence to support the blasphemy allegations. Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police found no proof that Das had insulted religion. Mymensingh Additional Superintendent of Police Abdullah Al Mamun stated that allegations were based purely on word of mouth, with investigators suggesting the killing may have stemmed from workplace disputes over production targets, overtime, and working conditions. Das had recently appeared for a promotion examination and reportedly had conflicts with several colleagues.
A Pattern of Violence
The lynching of Dipu Chandra Das did not occur in isolation. It took place against a backdrop of escalating violence in Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader and key figure in the 2024 protests that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hadi was shot on December 12 and died on December 18 in Singapore. His death sparked violent protests across Bangladesh, with attacks on media offices, cultural institutions, and Indian diplomatic missions.
Since Sheikh Hasina’s removal, Bangladesh has witnessed increased violence against its Hindu minority community. According to data compiled by minority rights groups and cited by the Global Hindu Diaspora, more than 2,442 attacks on minorities—predominantly Hindus—were reported between August 2024 and June 2025. The Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council documented that 82 people were killed between August and November 2024 alone, alongside reports of rapes, temple desecrations, and mob burnings. In just 35 days leading up to early January 2026, 11 Hindus were reportedly killed in incidents described as lynchings, shootings, and coordinated mob attacks.
This violence has instilled deep fear within Bangladesh’s Hindu community, which comprises approximately 13.1 million people or 7.95% of the country’s population according to the 2022 census. Religious minority groups have accused the interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus of failing to protect their safety, allegations the Yunus administration has firmly rejected.
International Condemnation and Response
The lynching drew swift international condemnation. On December 28, the US State Department termed the killing “horrific” and urged Bangladesh to protect its minorities. US Congressman Thomas R. Suozzi wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing concerns over attacks on Hindu minorities and the misuse of blasphemy laws. Congressman Ro Khanna stated that the killing was “horrific” and called for unequivocal condemnation of such acts of hatred and bigotry.
In London, the Bengali Hindu Adarsha Sangha led a “Justice for Hindus” rally outside the Bangladesh High Commission, with participants chanting “Hindu Lives Matter” to urge the Yunus administration and the British government to ensure minority safety. The demonstration was disrupted by counter-protesters supporting the Bangladeshi interim government.
Within Bangladesh itself, the interim government condemned the killing and promised accountability. Education Adviser C.R. Abrar met Das’s family to express sympathy and assure government support. Law Adviser Asif Nazrul announced the case would be transferred to a Speedy Trial Tribunal for resolution within 90 days. By early January 2026, 21 people had been arrested, including the main accused, Mohammad Yasin Arafat, a 25-year-old imam who had allegedly played a leading role in the murder before going into hiding at various madrasas.
Impact on India-Bangladesh Relations
The Dipu Chandra Das lynching has become a critical inflection point in India-Bangladesh relations, which have been deteriorating since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. The relationship, once described as being in a “golden era,” now stands at what analysts call a “historic breaking point.”
Several factors have contributed to this deterioration:
Sheikh Hasina’s Asylum in India: Since her removal in August 2024, the former prime minister has remained in India. Bangladesh has officially requested her extradition to face trial for alleged crimes during the 2024 protests. India’s refusal to hand her over is viewed by many in Dhaka as interference in their sovereign legal process. Meanwhile, Hasina has used her platform in India to criticize the interim administration, accusing Muhammad Yunus of being involved in “genocide”—a charge that has added fuel to the diplomatic fire.
The War of Narratives: Indian media coverage of Bangladesh has become a major source of tension. Numerous outlets have pushed conspiracy theories that the US, China, or Pakistan were behind Hasina’s ouster, while commentators have claimed that radical Islamists led the protest movement and that Bangladesh is descending into “Taliban-style moral policing.” This coverage has been criticized in Bangladesh as exaggerating violence and oversimplifying causes to fit domestic political narratives in India.
Regarding violence against Hindus specifically, Indian media reporting has tended to inflate the scale and frame incidents as purely communal. While attacks on Hindus did occur, subsequent investigations found that many incidents were politically or economically motivated, partly due to the historical association between the Hindu community and the Awami League. Critics in Bangladesh accuse India of “hyper-focusing” on communal incidents to delegitimize the new political order.
Protests and Diplomatic Incidents: The Das lynching triggered widespread protests across India. In New Delhi, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindu nationalist organizations held demonstrations near the Bangladesh High Commission, with protesters carrying placards reading “India will not tolerate torture of Hindus in Bangladesh” and “Our silence should not be mistaken as weakness, we are lions.” Similar protests erupted in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad, with some demonstrators burning effigies of Yunus and the Bangladeshi flag.
In December 2024, far-right Hindu groups attacked the Bangladeshi assistant high commission in Agartala, capital of India’s Tripura state. Protesters breached the compound, tore down the Bangladeshi flag, and set it ablaze. Bangladesh condemned the attack as a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, summoning India’s envoy and demanding an investigation.
Suspension of Visa Services: In a rare and alarming move, both nations suspended regular visa services on December 22, 2025. Bangladesh restricted visa services for Indians in Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai as of early January 2026. This has effectively cut off people-to-people ties, disrupting travel, medical care, and education for thousands who depend on cross-border movement.
Trade and Economic Fallout: The India-Bangladesh trade corridor is vital for both economies. India supplies key intermediate goods and essentials that sustain Bangladesh’s factory production and household demand, particularly cotton, fuels, machinery, and chemicals. However, bilateral trade has suffered significantly. Bangladesh’s exports to India—mainly textiles and apparel—have dropped sharply, hurting the garment industry, footwear manufacturers, SMEs, and jobs. Contributing factors include India’s May 2025 restrictions on 42% of imports from Bangladesh, land-port congestion, and disputes over third-country goods.
Bilateral trade, which stood at $14 billion in 2023-24, now faces an uncertain future amid the diplomatic frost. Bangladesh’s macroeconomic vulnerabilities amplify these risks: currency depreciation has increased from approximately 91.7 Bangladeshi taka per US dollar in 2022 to a projected 126.5 in 2026, raising the local-currency cost of imports, including essentials sourced through India.
Cricket Diplomacy Unravels: The tensions have even spilled into sports. On January 3, 2026, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League before the season began. The decision prompted criticism from Indian Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who warned against politicizing sport and punishing individual players for developments in another country.
Strategic Realignment and Regional Implications
Beyond bilateral friction, the crisis signals a strategic realignment in South Asia. Bangladesh is increasingly looking toward China for infrastructure financing as its foreign exchange reserves fall. Chinese investments offer a lifeline that India struggles to match. Additionally, warming ties between Dhaka and Islamabad have heightened New Delhi’s security concerns.
Resource management remains contentious. The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is set to expire in 2026, and negotiations have stalled due to the diplomatic frost. Bangladeshi officials fear India might use water as a tool of pressure during the dry season, particularly after India’s 2025 decision to modify parts of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.
For India, a less cooperative government in Dhaka raises concerns about the revival of insurgent activities in India’s Northeast. The “Chicken’s Neck” corridor—the narrow strip of land connecting mainland India to its eastern states—feels more vulnerable today than it has in decades.
The Way Forward
The February 2026 elections in Bangladesh represent a potential turning point. Analysts suggest these elections could reshape ties with India, though the path forward remains uncertain. Despite geographic proximity and economic interdependence that should encourage cooperation, a growing war of narratives and Dhaka’s strategic diversification increase the risk of prolonged tensions.
For India, the task has evolved from managing a consistently aligned neighbour to engaging a more assertive, multi-aligned Bangladesh while safeguarding core interests in security, trade, and energy. Many observers note that India’s rigid and interventionist foreign policy—particularly its decision to place all strategic bets on Sheikh Hasina while ignoring growing democratic aspirations in Bangladesh—has contributed to the current crisis.
For Bangladesh, the challenge lies in navigating this delicate transition without alienating a powerful neighbour while asserting independence on its own terms. The interim government’s call for India to respect “the sovereign will of our people in matters relating to elections” reflects this new assertiveness, breaking away from dependency narratives of the past.
Conclusion
The lynching of Dipu Chandra Das represents far more than an isolated incident of communal violence. It has become emblematic of broader challenges facing India-Bangladesh relations and the fragility of communal bonds in South Asia. The tragedy exposes how grief can swiftly morph into division without vigilant leadership, how media narratives can inflame rather than inform, and how political transitions can unleash forces that threaten regional stability.
As both nations grapple with these tensions, the imperative remains clear: channel outrage into constructive dialogue, implement robust minority safeguards, expedite justice for victims like Dipu Chandra Das, and engage in collaborative efforts against extremism. The alternative—prolonged mistrust, economic disruption, and the weaponization of identity—serves no one’s interests in a region that desperately needs cooperation to address shared challenges of development, security, and prosperity.
The story of Dipu Chandra Das—a young father working to support his family, killed on false accusations—deserves to be remembered not as a casualty of geopolitical manoeuvring, but as a call to action for leaders on both sides of the border to recommit to the principles of justice, dignity, and peaceful coexistence that should define civilized societies.
(Author is Editorial Director, The Chancellor)
