Hindus in Bangladesh, perceived by many to be supporters of the prime minister who was ousted in a popular uprising, braced for violent reprisals on Wednesday as the rudderless country awaited the formation of a new government after a month of unrest. This report has been published in the New York Times on August-7.

The former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, left the couch on Monday after a violent crackdown failed to quell a nationwide movement against her government. As thousands of protesters celebrated her ouster that afternoon, reports began to emerge of retaliation against members of Hasina’s party, the Awami League, and against those seen as her allies, including the Hindu minority.

In addition to the party’s offices and the homes of its members, the rioters targeted Hindus, torching their homes and vandalizing temples, according to witnesses and local media. Fears of more attacks were amplified in the absence of a government and with law enforcement retreating from sight in many parts of the country.

In addition to the almost 300 people killed during the government crackdown, at least 60 were killed in the violence that erupted on Monday in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Reliable details about the attackers and victims were not immediately available.

Prionthi Chatterjee, a Hindu student in Dhaka, the capital, said Muslims had attacked her family at their home in the southern Bagerhat region, killing her father and leaving her mother with head injuries.

“My father was an innocent teacher,” she said in a phone interview, adding that her parents tried to call the army and the police for help but that no one responded. Details about the episode could not be independently verified.

Iskcon temple of Meherpur district town in Bangladesh was attacked and vandalized by some miscreants. The mob also looted valuables from the temple. House and temple of Pijus Kanti Dey at Sheikghat in Sylhet divisional town was attacked and ransacked by the mob, it’s learnt.

There were attacks on the homes of Hindus and their temples in at least 27 districts of Bangladesh, including villages near Chattogram, the country’s second-most-populous city, according to witnesses and the relatives of people whose properties were targeted.

The student groups that led the protests against Hasina acknowledged the violence but suggested their supporters were not involved. “Temples are being attacked, vandalized and looted,” Nahid Islam, one of the student leaders, said in a statement on Tuesday, blaming the attacks on those who want to “destroy” the student movement.

Rana Das Gupta, who leads an organization of Bangladesh’s religious minorities, said attacks toward Hindus had resulted in at least two deaths and more than 100 injured. “Some of those whose homes were attacked may be directly involved in Awami League politics, but most are ordinary Hindus,” he said. “Therefore, this is definitely communal and targeted violence.”

The president of Bangladesh, who holds a mostly ceremonial role, on Tuesday appointed the Nobel Peace Prize-winning microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, to lead an interim government. Its members are expected to be announced within days.

Restoring law and order will be one of the interim government’s immediate challenges. Meenakshi Ganguly, the deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, described the reports of violence against Hindus as “extremely concerning.”

“Hindus are apparently being attacked because they traditionally supported her Awami League party. Bangladeshis came out on the streets to demand an end to authoritarianism, and these attacks undermine their just demand for human rights,” she said in a statement.

Houses, Temples, Business Establishments of the minorities especially Hindus in various parts of the country were attacked, vandalized following remours of defamation in the social media from 2012 to 2021.