A Christian advocacy group in Bangladesh is voicing solidarity with fellow believers in West Bengal, India, after a spate of attacks on churches and faithful in the neighboring Indian state.

The Bangladesh Christian Association formed a human chain and held a protest rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka last Friday, denouncing Hindu nationalist groups for the attacks in India and calling on the Indian government to protect the rights of religious minorities.

Crux Now reported earlier this month that the incidents in West Bengal began July 5 and included the targeted destruction of an under-construction Presbyterian church, an assault on a congregation during Sunday service, and the harassment of a Christian widow.

Christian religious leaders in Bangladesh protested and rallied in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on 17 July 2026, to protest against recent attacks on minority Christians and churches in neighboring India. (Image credit: Stephan Uttom Rozario)

Reports also said the church site was brutally vandalized by a mob.

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The pastor of the cathedral parish in Bangladesh’s capital archdiocese, Dhaka, told Crux Now the news of suffering inflicted on fellow Christians has pained believers in his country, where Christians are a tiny minority and frequently face difficulties of their own.

“It has caused us a lot of pain and suffering,” Father Albert Rozario told Crux Now.

Activists and rights observers say the recent attacks are part of a larger pattern, with the United Christian Forum of India reporting 706 attacks recorded between January and November 2025.

The priest said the constitutions of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan provide for the right to religious freedom, but minorities across the subcontinent are not secure in their exercise of their rights.

BCA president Nirmol Rozario said the way to understand the condition of a country is to look at the condition of its religious minorities.

“We want to tell the Indian government that justice must be ensured through an impartial investigation into the cases of religious minorities who have been tortured and churches vandalized,” Rozario said.

There is interfaith support for Christian minorities throughout the region, as well.

The secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Manindra Kumar Nath, told Crux Now Bangladesh has experienced extremism in the wake of political instability in 2024.

“Persecution of minorities and attacks on religious institutions are not desirable in any country, be it India or Bangladesh,” Nath said, calling on governments to act swiftly and decisively to curtail such behavior.