Catholic leaders in Bangladesh are demanding government action to ensure the security of their communities after an evening attack on a Catholic church in the capital city, Dhaka. Source: Crux.
On October 8, at about 10pm, unidentified assailants on motorcycles set off two improvised explosives in quick succession at the main gate of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, causing panic among the people in the surrounding area. Later, two more bombs were found unexploded at the scene.
On Saturday, police made an arrest in the case, of a Muslim man believed to be associated with the politics of the Awami League, which was ousted from power last year.
Sheikh Hasina, the autocratic head of the Awami League, resigned last year in the wake of a student uprising and fled to India. A secular party supported by a majority of non-Muslims, the Awami League played an instrumental role in Bangladesh’s independence movement after WWII and dominated the nation’s political life until the so-called July Revolution in 2024.
In the wake of the July Revolution, the government banned the Awami League’s activities under an anti-terror law passed in 2009 by a broad coalition under the leadership of Hasani and the Awami League.
Since then, Islamist groups have often attacked members of religious minority community organisations.
“We think this incident is sending a bad message to our Christian community,” Holy Rosary parish priest Fr Joyanto S. Gomes said.
Fr Gomes said everyone had the right to practice their religion safely, and Christians – especially Catholics – want to practice their religion without any fear.
The head of the Catholic bishops’ conference of Bangladesh on Saturday issued a statement saying the incident must be promptly and properly investigated and the main perpetrators identified and brought to justice.
Archbishop Bejoy Cruze of Dhaka said there is a fear such incidents will be repeated and communal violence will be incited, and the Christian minority will live in extreme insecurity.
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Arrest made in attack on Catholic church in Bangladesh (By Stephan Uttom Rozario, Crux)
