Bangladesh: At Least 49 Minority Teachers Physically Assaulted, Forced To Resign By Violent Protesters After Hasina's Exit

A minority organisation in Bangladesh has said that at least 49 teachers from minority communities were forced to step down after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August.

The Bangladesh Chhatra Oikya Parishad, the student wing of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, said this during a press conference on Saturday (31 August), The Daily Star newspaper reported.

Sajib Sarkar, the coordinator of the organisation, said that following the ouster of the 76-year-old Prime Minister Hasina, minority teachers across the country faced physical assault in the ensuing students' violence, with at least 49 teachers forced to resign.

According to the report, 19 of these teachers were reinstated later.

Sarkar added that religious and ethnic minorities have also faced attacks, looting, assault on women, vandalism of temples, arson attacks on homes and businesses, and killings during this period.

In the aftermath of the Hasina-led Awami League government's downfall, Bangladesh witnessed numerous violent incidents targeting members of the Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian communities.

Hasina resigned and fled to India on 5 August after unprecedented anti-government student-led protests over a controversial quota system in government jobs.

Data from the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad indicates that since the fall of the Hasina government, minority communities have suffered at least 205 incidents of attacks across 52 districts in Bangladesh.

More than 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July.

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