Ahead of key elections in Bangladesh on February 12, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami party, Shafiqur Rahman, on Wednesday said that everyone in Bangladesh is a ‘first-class citizen’. The remarks come at a time when attacks against minority Hindus have increased over the past few months.
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“Regardless of their religion, they are all Bangladeshi citizens. There are no second-class citizens in my country. I do not consider anyone a minority. We are all Bangladeshis, and everyone is a first-class citizen. We do not endorse divisions based on minority or majority,” Rahman said.
On Bangladesh’s ties with India, the Jamaat leader said that India will remain a priority as it is the ‘nearest neighbour’. He was responding to media questions when he made the remarks and when one of the reporters asked him if he sees himself as the prime minister of Bangladesh, Rahman said, “I don’t know” and pointed upwards.
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“It will be decided by the total environment of the country. There are so many stakeholders. It will be immature to answer the question on free and fair elections today,” he said when he was asked about his opinion on the elections being held in Bangladesh.
Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh
Since the killing of student leader Osman Hadi in Bangladesh in December 2025, several cases of attacks on Hindu minorities were reported. It started with Dipu Chandra Das, a garment factory worker, who was beaten and set on fire by a mob in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, over alleged blasphemy, according to reports. His death was widely condemned and the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said, “There is no space for such violence in new Bangladesh. The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared.”
Another Hindu man, a grocery shop owner, was reportedly killed after being attacked with sharp weapons in Narsingdi, on the outskirts of Bangladesh’s Dhaka, on January 6.
On Monday, just ahead of the key national elections, a Hindu businessman was killed in Mymensingh. The victim, identified as 62-year-old Susen Chandra Sarkar, was a rice trader. Sarkar was hacked to death inside his shop, following which the perpetrators closed the shutters and fled, bdnews 24 cited Trishal Police Station chief (OC) Muhammad Firoz Hossain as saying.