The Pulse | Politics | South Asia

Bangladesh’s Persisting Mob Violence

Are law enforcement agencies responding swiftly when someone is beaten on the street, or when a mob vandalizes an institution?

The headquarters of the Daily Prothom Alo newspaper in Dhaka, which was vandalized and burnt by mobs on the night of December 18, 2025.

Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024, mob violence has assumed serious proportions in Bangladesh. Incidents range from individuals being beaten to death over allegations of religious blasphemy to attacks driven by personal vendettas or attempts to seize property. Mobs have indulged in vandalism and attacked shrines, newspaper offices and cultural organizations, national monuments, and memorials related to the 1971 liberation war, even exhuming bodies from graves.

The recent killing of 38-year-old Wahiduzzaman Shamim in Satkhira in southwest Bangladesh on allegations of blasphemy and attacks on a charitable maternity clinic in the capital, Dhaka, have only deepened these concerns.

Get to the bottom of the story

Subscribe today and join thousands of diplomats, analysts, policy professionals and business readers who rely on The Diplomat for expert Asia-Pacific coverage.

Get unlimited access to in-depth analysis you won't find anywhere else, from South China Sea tensions to ASEAN diplomacy to India-Pakistan relations. More than 5,000 articles a year.

Unlimited articles and expert analysis

Weekly newsletter with exclusive insights

16-year archive of diplomatic coverage

Ad-free reading on all devices

Support independent journalism

Already have an account? Log in.

Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024, mob violence has assumed serious proportions in Bangladesh. Incidents range from individuals being beaten to death over allegations of religious blasphemy to attacks driven by personal vendettas or attempts to seize property. Mobs have indulged in........

© The Diplomat