Bangladeshi Christians in peaceful protest
Barnabas Fund, 10 November 2020
Bangladeshi Christians, and other minority groups, took to the streets of Dhaka in a 500-strong peaceful protest march on 7 November against relentless Islamist extremist attacks on minority communities.
At least 17 people from ethnic and religious minority communities were killed between March and September this year, with attacks continuing throughout the Covid crisis.
The protesters say that the Islamist attacks against minority communities ‘‘hurt religious feelings’’, and minority leaders claimed that “the government failed to protect them’’.
A placard stating, ‘‘Stop Using Facebook for Community Attack” highlighted the role of social media in persecution-related incidents.
The 1% Christian minority has typically enjoyed greater religious freedom in Bangladesh than in other Muslim-majority countries but violence against Christians, particularly in rural areas, has been growing, with those active in evangelism and converts from Islam particularly targeted.