• The Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jote (BSSJJ), a Hindu community advocacy group, announced a nationwide protest at 16:00 (local time) on April 2.
• The protest will be held to condemn the burning of a Hindu Idol during the looting of an individual’s residence in Tangail District on March 30.

1. The turnout at the nationwide protest is expected to vary by location. Participation in Chittagong and Dhaka is likely to range from the high dozens to the low hundreds. At the same time, smaller cities are expected to see attendance in the low dozens, given the organizing group’s mobilization capacity. The authorities are expected to increase their presence near the organization’s offices, with heightened police deployment and barricading near government buildings and at the site of the attack in Tangail. This is particularly in response to the group’s ultimatum to form human chains, which are expected to disrupt traffic if the authorities fail to take action on the reported incident.
2. A latent risk of clashes between protesters and police exists, as the organization holds security forces accountable for inaction despite their presence outside the house during the attack. The possibility of communal clashes also remains high between the Hindu minority community and Muslim community bystanders, given the overall communal sensitivities in the country. The frustration among the Hindu community following the November 2024 arrest of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) priest Chinmoy Krishna Das further increases the potential for confrontations with the law enforcement. In the event of escalated unrest, the authorities are likely to implement stringent measures, including the use of baton charges, water cannons, or tear gas. Travel disruptions are expected in the vicinity of BSSJJ-led gatherings during the protest hours on April 2.

Those operating or residing in Bangladesh, particularly in Chittagong and Dhaka on April 2 are advised to maintain heightened vigilance in the vicinity of the aforementioned locations due to the slated protest and related risk of clashes while allotting for travel disruptions.