On December 18, in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh, a young Hindu garment factory worker named Dipu Chandra Das was brutally lynched by a mob over unverified allegations of blasphemy.

Dipu was not a political activist, not a protester, and not associated with any movement. He was a poor factory worker who lived in a rented room in the Dubalia Para area of Square Master Bari. Every day, like countless others in Bangladesh’s garment sector, he went to work at a garment composite unit to earn daily wages and survive.

What happened next exposed the complete breakdown of law and humanity. Videos that appeared on social media after Dipu’s lynching are graphic and deeply disturbing. They are almost impossible to watch. As evening fell, a violent and enraged mob surrounded him. Dozens of men are seen kicking him, beating him relentlessly, and jumping on his body. Dipu was defenceless. The mob showed no restraint as they crushed his body, breaking bones and continuing the assault until he died from the injuries.

Even after killing him, the violence did not stop. The mob dragged Dipu’s body to a public square, a busy road that several reports identify as the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway. There, they tied his lifeless body and hung it up, only to beat it again. The killing had already ended, but the cruelty continued. When this too failed to satisfy the mob, they poured an inflammable liquid on the body and set it on fire. As the flames rose, the attackers celebrated, shouting ‘Naara-e-Takbir, Allah Hu Akbar’, turning the murder into a public display of triumph.

Throughout this entire sequence of events, from the beating to the dragging and finally the burning, no police personnel were visible. No one intervened. No authority appeared to stop the mob. The attackers behaved without fear, fully confident that there would be no consequences. This confidence did not come out of nowhere. Bangladesh’s security system has, over time, surrendered to Islamist mobs. These mobs have destroyed monuments of national identity and attacked the cultural and historical foundations of the country. Meanwhile, the ruling system has stood by, with the caretaker regime actively whitewashing such acts instead of stopping them.

The images from Bhaluka are deeply unsettling. At first glance, the scene looks medieval, like something from a distant past where mobs ruled by brute force. Yet mobile phones, vehicles, and signs of modern life are clearly visible. This contrast makes the horror even sharper. Bangladesh today exists in the modern world, but scenes like this show a country slipping into a darker age.

Bangladesh in December 2025: a nation consumed by Islamist extremism

For those who have followed developments in Bangladesh closely, this incident, as horrifying as it is, was not unexpected. Similar attacks have taken place before. Whatever law and order existed in the country collapsed after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024. Since then, mobs have controlled the streets. They have killed, chased, and burned Hindus openly. These actions have not only gone unpunished but have also received cover and justification from the so-called ‘caretaker government’, a setup meant to mislead the international community.

In the last 18 months, hundreds of Hindus in Bangladesh have been raped, murdered, dragged out of their homes, beaten in public, threatened at their workplaces, and forced to quit their jobs. Their only fault has been their religious identity. This persecution did not begin suddenly. It existed earlier as well. However, despite many flaws, Sheikh Hasina’s government acted as a barrier against unchecked Islamist violence. Her administration, though imperfect, kept extremist forces from completely taking over public life.

That barrier no longer exists. With its removal, chaos has taken control. Islamist mobs now act without restraint, and fear governs everyday life. The brutal lynching of Dipu Das fits directly into this pattern. In fact, the details of his killing closely resemble another incident that shocked the world only a few years earlier.

The Sialkot killing of Priyantha Kumara, Pakistan, 2021

On December 3, 2021, in Sialkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province, a mob of hundreds brutally lynched Priyantha Kumara Diyawadanage. He was a 49-year-old Sri Lankan national and worked as a factory manager at Rajco Industries. The mob consisted largely of local factory workers and supporters of the hardline Islamist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

Priyantha Kumara was a Sinhalese Buddhist who had lived and worked in Pakistan for more than ten years. On the day of the incident, he was preparing the factory for a visiting delegation. As part of routine cleaning, he asked workers to remove posters from factory walls and machinery. Some of these posters carried Islamic verses and quotes from TLP leaders. When workers refused, Kumara reportedly removed the posters himself and disposed of them. This simple act was immediately labelled ‘blasphemy’.

A mob soon gathered. Kumara was chased through the factory as he pleaded and tried to reason with his attackers. Fearing for his life, he ran to the factory roof. The mob dragged him down, beat him with sticks and stones, broke his bones, and killed him. Even death was not enough. His body was dragged into the street and set on fire. The ‘kafir’ was beaten to death and then burned publicly as a spectacle meant to satisfy the mob.

Videos from the incident showed hundreds of people chanting slogans as his body burned. The same slogans were heard years later during the killing of Dipu Das on December 18, 2025. Different locations, different victims, but the same religious fury. The scenes were shockingly similar and revealed how easily ordinary people can become instruments of extreme violence.

The similarity between Dipu Das and Priyantha Kumara does not end with the brutality of their deaths. In both cases, the accusations were almost identical. Flimsy claims of ‘blasphemy’, baseless rumours of ‘insult to Islam’, and allegations of ‘Insult to the Islamic prophet’ were enough to mobilise mobs and justify murder.

Reports from Bangladesh state that Dipu did not even commit any such ‘insult’. He had reportedly argued that all religions are equal and that all Gods are the same. December 18 marked ‘World Arabic Language Day’, and Dipu is said to have made some minor remarks during a discussion. Some coworkers found those remarks offensive. That single accusation was enough. One claim of ‘Insult to Islam’ turned into a death sentence delivered by a mob.

In Pakistan, mob lynchings over blasphemy accusations are not rare. In that lawless Islamist environment, even false rumours are enough to land someone in jail. Blasphemy is punishable by death, and courts often rely on little more than verbal claims. Islamist mobs, however, do not wait for legal procedures. They want immediate punishment. They want the ‘Kaafir’ killed on the spot, in public, with cheers and celebration.

Bangladesh completes a tragic return to its past

Bangladesh was born through immense sacrifice. Lakhs of lives were lost in the struggle to break free from Pakistan. A brutal war was fought. An entire generation risked everything to build a democratic and secular nation. Freedom fighters laid down their lives so future generations could live with dignity and safety.

Yet history has turned cruelly against that dream. Demography shapes a nation’s destiny more powerfully than laws or constitutions. Bangladesh has now come full circle. Much of what it once achieved has been lost. The economy lies in ruins. Geography was never an advantage, and the political forces that could restrain religious extremism are gone. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is no more. His house, once a symbol of the bloody struggle for freedom, has been gutted. His daughter has been forced into exile.

Stripped of hard-earned progress, modern values, and democratic governance, and with minority communities pushed toward extinction, Bangladesh today stands consumed by chaos and anarchy. What remains is a violent, lawless fanaticism that shows no sign of stopping.

Between 1971 and 2025, 54 years have passed. In that time, Bangladesh has become what it once fought against. The nation has turned into the very oppressor it sought to escape. Demography has rewritten its destiny, and Bangladesh now mirrors Pakistan.