PLIGHT OF HINDUS
BBC | The Documentary
Heart and Soul | BBC World Service
A two-part investigation into the truth behind videos of attacks on members of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh? Sahar Zand investigates the violence, and why it's seemingly being met with silence.
Heart & Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh: Part one
In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political unrest and the student-led protests that led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, the country is facing a period of transition and uncertainty. Amid the chaos, harrowing videos and reports of violent attacks against the Hindu minority flooded social media—images of burning buildings, horrifying violence, and women weeping as they pleaded for help. However, some began to doubt the veracity and authenticity of these videos after they seemed to be sensationalised by right-wing influencers and news outlets in neighbouring India.
Despite this, shocking new videos of alleged attacks continue to appear on social media, with little or no acknowledgement from a world that is now questioning their legitimacy. In the first episode of a two-part series for BBC World Service’s Heart & Soul, reporter Sahar Zand travels to Bangladesh to investigate the truth behind the contradictory news headlines and the contrasting videos emerging daily online. There, Sahar follows two Hindu university students, Sukanto and Banamali, who have made it their mission to verify and document what they describe as brutal assaults on their community, determined to set the record straight.
Sahar follows Sukanto and Banamali as they travel to some of the worst-affected areas, and sees and hears firsthand accounts of homes burned, families separated, temples desecrated, and entire villages torn apart by mob violence. Despite their tireless efforts to report the truth, the two friends say that the Hindu experience in Bangladesh has been met with silence from both the world's media and the country's authorities.
Heart & Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh: Part Two
After Sheikh Hasina’s government collapsed in August 2024, violent attacks on Bangladesh’s Hindu minority were reported. Many of these reports, accentuated by far-right influencers and broadcasters in neighbouring India, were later found to be misleading, sparking skepticism on the legitimacy of the violence. In the first episode of this two-part series for BBC’s Heart & Soul, reporter Sahar Zand travelled to Bangladesh, exposing that the attacks are real, with devastating impacts on Hindu lives and communities, amid media silence and official inaction.
In the second episode, Sahar follows two young Hindu activists, Banamali and Sukanto, who are documenting the violence that they say authorities and media are ignoring. She joins them, in real time, as they respond to a new attack on a Hindu-majority village, where a mob set fire to a yet another building. Witnessing the community’s fear and distrust of the police and media.
The documentary then reveals that the attacks aren’t just aimed at buildings. Sahar meets victims, including an elderly village doctor recovering from an attempted murder and a grieving mother whose 14-year-old son was killed trying to escape the country.
The activists take Sahar to a nearly destroyed temple complex, its idols looted and desecrated. The site’s president implicates the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami for the attacks, revealing political motivations behind the violence.
The documentary also touches upon the rise of Islamism in Bangladesh in recent years, highlighting the harmful rhetoric by some Islamic-leaders, which many activists and victims say have been fueling the tension.
In a tense interview, Sahar confronts Mahmudul Hasan Gunovi, a far-right Islamist leader accused of fueling the violence with his inflammatory rhetoric. Gunovi, linked to a banned terrorist organization and previously imprisoned for inciting violence. Sahar’s probing questions and refusal to accept evasive answers exposes the dangerous influence fueling the violence against the Hindu minority.
The documentary concludes with a volatile encounter when Banamali and Sukanto visit a sensitive site, where a Hindu crematorium has recently been destroyed, and a make-shift mosque built on its ruins. The situation escalates into violence, revealing a terrifying picture of the reality of the tension engulfing Bangladesh.
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CREDITS
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SAHAR ZAND
PRESENTER & PRODUCER
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RAJEEV GUPTA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
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MICA NEPOMUCEN
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR