India’s intense political and media attention to alleged persecution of minorities in Bangladesh stands in growing contrast to the realities unfolding within its own borders.
Whenever an isolated incident occurs in a neighbouring country, questions of “human rights” and “minority safety” are raised forcefully.
Yet the persistent silence surrounding sustained and multidimensional violence against minorities at home reflects a form of one-way morality, or more plainly, a troubling hypocrisy.
Recent patterns of violence suggest that the targets of Hindu majoritarian extremism in India are no longer confined to Muslims alone. Christians, Dalits, and Indigenous communities are increasingly subjected to intimidation, assault, and exclusion, revealing a broader culture of political aggression that cuts across religious and social lines.
The wave of attacks on Christians during the Christmas season illustrates this reality with disturbing clarity.
Across several Indian states, Christmas celebrations were disrupted, churches were attacked, and clergy were publicly harassed. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India reported coordinated efforts to obstruct Christian religious gatherings during the festive period.
More than 2,900 incidents of persecution against Christians were reported across India between January and November 2025, with over 60 incidents recorded in December alone, many of them directly linked to Christmas gatherings.
Videos documenting assaults on churches and interference with religious practices in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Haryana, and Kerala circulated widely on social media. The United Christian Forum has reported that at least 600 incidents of violence against Christians were recorded during 2025, underscoring the scale of the crisis.
These figures do not point to sporadic acts of intolerance but rather to an entrenched political and institutional climate that enables such violence.
This climate of intolerance extends beyond religious targeting and increasingly manifests as racialized violence against individuals from India’s northeastern states.
Recently, the son of a member of the country’s Border Security Force (BSF) lost his life after becoming the victim of a racist attack; he was stabbed to death after being labelled as “Chinese.” In Dehradun, this young man from Tripura was assaulted simply for protesting against racist slurs directed at him.
These attacks reveal how ethnic profiling and racial prejudice have become normalized forms of violence, often met with social indifference and weak institutional response.
At the same time, violence against Muslims and Dalits continues unabated.
In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and Odisha, multiple incidents of mob killings have been reported.
A Muslim teacher was shot dead in Aligarh. In Bihar, street vendor Muhammad Atahar Hossain was lynched after his religious identity was confirmed. In Kerala, a Dalit labourer lost his life following an assault.
These cases expose severe failures in law enforcement and the erosion of the rule of law.
Particularly alarming is the rise in attacks on Muslim workers in West Bengal and other states under the pretext of identifying “Bangladeshis.”
This conflation of nationality with religious identity has normalized mob justice and deepened social divisions.
Analysts argue that over the past decade, under Narendra Modi’s leadership, Hindutva rhetoric and aggressive nationalism have become increasingly institutionalized.
Human rights defenders point to divisive language emanating from the highest levels of political power, which has helped legitimise street-level violence.
UK-based Kashmiri political activist Dr Muzammil Ayub Thakur has argued that the long-standing portrayal of Muslims as internal enemies turned Kashmir into a laboratory of repression, the effects of which are now visible across the Indian mainland.
Criticism has also emerged from within India itself. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has described the central government’s silence in the face of attacks by extremist groups as a dangerous message.
Against this backdrop, India’s posture on Bangladesh appears increasingly selective. Even as violence against minorities escalates within India, isolated incidents in Bangladesh are amplified and weaponized for political mobilization.
The circulation of old or misleading videos on social media, symbolic border blockades, and provocative rhetoric have become part of a familiar strategy.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera’s remark, “Do we want India to become like Bangladesh?” captures this mindset.
At the same time, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly expressed concern over attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, while offering little meaningful self-reflection on the ongoing persecution of Muslims, Christians and Dalits within India.
Bangladesh’s own challenges must not be denied. Attacks on minorities there are real and documented. According to Ain o Salish Kendra, between 2013 and 2021 there were 3,679 reported attacks against the Hindu community. The interim government has also released figures on recent cases filed and arrests made in response to communal violence.
The problem lies not in acknowledging these incidents, but in exploiting them as tools of electoral politics in India.
In late 2024, the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Das in Bangladesh triggered protests across several Indian cities and even an attack on the Bangladeshi consulate in Agartala.
During the same period, killings and assaults targeting Muslims in India received scant attention.
Within India, Muslims continue to live under persistent threat. They are attackedon suspicion of carrying beef, or branded as Bangladeshis or Rohingyas. Between 2010 and 2017, twenty-eight people were killed in cow-related violence, twenty-four of them Muslims.
Such incidents surged again during the 2019 and 2024 election cycles. In August 2024, a Muslim child, Saib Malik, was killed in Haryana after being falsely accused of transporting beef. Many of these cases failed to receive sustained coverage in national media.
India’s democratic legacy and secular constitution are increasingly at odds with its treatment of minorities. Speaking loudly about minority rights in Bangladesh while ignoring the suffering of Muslims and other marginalized groups at home weakens India’s moral credibility and strains regional relations in South Asia.
Both India and Bangladesh would benefit from a path grounded in mutual respect, dialogue, and shared responsibility. Joint regional commissions, independent monitoring mechanisms, responsible media practices, and interfaith and youth exchange programs offer practical ways to reduce tensions.
Minority rights are not instruments of political division; they are fundamental to regional stability and peaceful coexistence.
Nafew Sajed Joy is a Writer, Researcher and Environmentalist. Email: nafew.sajed@gmail.com.