At least 17 houses in Bangladesh were burned down on Christmas Eve when the Christian Tripura community was attacked. Reportedly, the homes were set ablaze when the Christians were out in another nearby village attending Christmas Eve worship services, returning to find the scene of devastation. According to reports from locals, at least 17 out of the 19 homes were completely destroyed, leaving the villagers with nothing.
The attack took place in the Bandarban district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh along the border with Myanmar. The horrific act of arson is reported to have occurred around 12:30 a.m. on December 25. Christians in Bangladesh are a vast minority, comprising less than half a percent of the Muslim-majority population. Muslims represent 90% of the population and Buddhists 8.5%.
“There are 19 families living in the … village and 25 houses of 19 families are totally gutted due to the arson attack. Now they are out of the village and living in their relatives’ villages,” Father Rocky Costa, parish priest of the local St. Peter’s Catholic Church said about the incident. “These Indigenous peoples are vulnerable and they are also deprived of justice. So, I want to say this is inhuman,” he added.
Reportedly, the homes were in a new district where they had just been rebuilt several years ago after being displaced. Victims of the attack spoke out about the incident as well. “Our houses have been completely burned to ashes. We could not save anything. Today is supposed to be our happiest day, but this has turned into a nightmare. We demand exemplary punishment for the criminals,” said Gungamani Tripura, another victim asserted.
“We have no church building in the Tongjhiri village and that’s why we went to another village to celebrate Christmas Eve on Dec 24. That night the culprits burned everything,” Lalmon Tripura, 26, stated OSV News.“We have no extra clothes, we are suffering from the food crisis and we are living in an open sky,” Tripura added. “We demand justice and proper rehabilitation with compensation.”
“It is true that at Lama area, Chattogram Hilltracks, about 25 houses were burnt on December 25 morning while the Christians went to the other village for Christmas service,” stated Archbishop Bejoy D’Cruze of Dhaka. “We strongly condemn these heinous activities. It is against the vulnerable indigenous Christians,” he added. “We demand proper investigation and bring the culprits under the law. Protection should be given immediately, and damage should be covered by the government.”
The Christian Tribune recently reported that Christians persecution is even increasing in historically Christian parts of the world, including Europe. An annual report from the Christian watchdog group, Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe), revealed that anti-Christian hate crimes nearly tripled last year, surging 226%.
The annual report stated, “Combining police statistics and civil society data, 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes were identified in 35 European countries, including 232 personal attacks on Christians.” It added, “The most affected countries in 2023 are France, the United Kingdom and Germany, with anti-Christian hate crimes doubling in Germany compared to last year.”
Furthermore, there have been egregious restrictions on religious freedom in certain public spaces. “In 2023-24, several people have been fined and prosecuted for peacefully praying in public streets in so-called ‘buffer zones’ around abortion clinics, including a man convicted in the UK for praying silently in his own mind,” the watchdog group added.
"*" indicates required fields