Bangladesh (MNN) — Violence against religious minorities in Bangladesh continues unabated.

Wycliffe Associates’ Tony Tophoney says former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left a power vacuum when she fled to India last week. Minorities are paying the price of lax governmental control.

“The police stepped back and kind of ‘circled the wagons’ [and] the people left out on the fringes of the society are the minority [groups] like Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians,” Tophoney says.

“The opposition party has been waiting for a moment like this. They were burning down Christian churches and Hindu temples, beating the believers in their homes.”

The unrest is directly affecting Wycliffe Associates’ partners. “All Bible translation work in Bangladesh has ceased due to the conflict because most of the Christians are hiding in colonies now,” Tophoney says.

Hindus protest the mistreatment of religious minorities in Bangladesh on August 12, 2024.
(Wikimedia Commons)

“With the violence ramping up and the uncertainty of the political situation, those colonies are being threatened and attacked by the opposition party.”

Many believers have fled to makeshift refugee camps on the border with India, hoping to escape across the border to safety. However, “the Indian authorities are guarding their border and stopping them from going any further,” Tophoney says.

“They’re stuck in that situation and don’t have any food because the agitators have made it impossible for those groups to access food.”

Ask the Lord to intervene and help as only He can. “We’d love to have your prayers,” Tophoney says.

“We need them desperately for South Asia and Bangladesh in general, that the Lord will protect the believers and protect the small light that burns for Christ. It is a fragile light, but it has been burning brightly.”

 

Header image depicts student protestors on July 11, 2024. Students launched the “Bangla Blockade” following a one-point demand for scrapping all illogical and discriminatory quotas in public service through the enactment of a law and keeping a minimum quota for marginalized citizens in line with the constitution. (Wikimedia Commons)