Last June, Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu, the MP for Natore-2 Sadar constituency and the BNP’s Chief Whip, confidently told journalists that Bangladesh’s minorities live most safely under BNP rule. Yet in Lalpur, within the same Natore district and his own constituency, five Hindu families are now living under threat after receiving letters warning that unless they pay money within 24 hours, dead bodies will be lying in their courtyards. The gap between such rhetoric and reality paints a stark picture of the state of the country.

According to the Minority Protection Council, from January to June this year alone, 44 members of minority communities were killed in 40 separate incidents. By comparison, the total number of minority killings during the entire previous year was 66, meaning the average monthly death toll has increased by nearly 33 percent. Another report published ahead of the election found that over the past eighteen months, 61 minorities were killed, 28 incidents of violence against women were recorded, and 95 attacks were carried out on temples or other places of worship. Minority leaders have also stated that authorities frequently dismiss such incidents as personal disputes, rather than treating them as targeted attacks.

The picture that emerges is this: on one hand, government MPs publicly assure the nation that minorities are safe, while on the other, Hindu families in the very same constituencies are receiving death threats demanding payments through mobile financial services. When they approach the police, they are met with little more than assurances that the phone numbers used to issue the threats are switched off. Critics argue that this reflects a return to the pattern seen during 2001–2006—public promises of security, while minorities on the ground are left with little meaningful protection.⁩