New Delhi, Jan 15 : Violence against the minorities in Bangladesh is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for several decades and has seen major outbreaks since 1989 onwards. The year 2025 witnessed a surge in the number of attacks on minority communities and officials in India say that since then, the targeting has been a relentless one.

Between June 6, 2025 and January 5, 2026, 116 members of minority communities have been killed, according to a report by the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM).

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the targeting of the minorities in Bangladesh has been taking place for long.

However the one that is on currently, feels different. Those who have undertaken this campaign have been relentless in their efforts. It is planned in such a way that there are no signs of it stopping irrespective of whichever government comes to power, the official said.

In earlier instances, there would be an outbreak and it would stop following government intervention.

Now what one is witnessing is completely different. It appears as though the campaigners of this have decided to stop only after every minority is eliminated, another official said.

In the past on several occasions, the violence would be restricted to some divisions in Bangladesh. However according to the HRCBM report, this time it has spread across all 8 divisions and 45 districts.

Officials say that this is the pattern that they are looking at. This looks thoroughly planned with clear instructions â??do not stop until the job is completely done.â??

The killing of minorities, particularly the Hindus is not only aimed at making Bangladesh fully rid of minorities. It is also a message to India with the clear aim of provoking the country.

This has been the plan since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Under Muhammad Yunus the ISI-Jamaat have been able to execute this plan with ease as they have no pressure from Yunus to stop this pogrom, another official added.

Intelligence agencies warn that ahead of the elections the targeting of the minorities would only go up. Many parties like the Jamaat and those who back it are hoping that their radical vote base would consolidate further if the minorities are targeted.

This is one of the main reasons why the Indian agencies feel that more such incidents would be reported in the run up to the elections.

The HRCMB report also adds that these killings are not random acts, but structural violence which stem from systematic discrimination and long term demographic changes.

It says that the minority population fell from 30 to 9 per cent between 1946 and 2020.

Officials say that the Yunus administration has been trying to pass off such incidents as one-off occurrences. Official statements have been made on such incidents whereby it is said that some of the killings are due to personal reasons.

However, in almost all such cases, it has been found that the acts were deliberate and with the intention to target minorities.

Further it is also clear that in most cases the law agencies have not acted despite being in a position to do so. This shows that the killers enjoy institutional support.

The report also highlighted a weakness in the justice system. It said that police often are reluctant to register cases and proper probes are not undertaken.

The report flags political interference and selective law enforcement. This in fact gives the perpetrators a major boost to go about indulging in violence and targeting the minority community.

The report says that 48 per cent were targeted murders, while mob lynchings stood at 10.9 per cent. About 12.9 per cent were suspicious or unexplained deaths linked to larger violence and custodial deaths by the police and other agencies stood at 6.9 per cent.

/IANS