• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A woman sits where her house was standing before an arson attack in the early hours of Dec. 25, 2024, in a Christian village called Tongjhiri in Bangladesh. (OSV News photo/courtesy Tripura Indigenous community)

Indigenous Christian village in Bangladesh burned to the ground on Christmas

December 30, 2024
By Stephan Uttom Rozario
OSV News
Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

An Indigenous Christian village was burnt to the ground just after midnight on Christmas Day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

The attack occurred in the Bandarban district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering Myanmar, at around 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 25. The area is in the Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong, also called Chattogram.

The attack occurred while residents were away attending midnight Mass in a neighboring village, as there is no church in their village. Nobody was in the village when the attack took place, the OpIndia website reported.

“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 told OSV News.

The priest said that only one Catholic family was living in the village and others were Protestant, but he said Archbishop Lawrence Subrata Howlader of Chattogram demanded justice for all Christians left homeless.

Archbishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of Dhaka strongly condemned the attack and asked for justice and compensation for the “heinous incident.”

“These Indigenous peoples are vulnerable and they are also deprived of justice. So, I want to say this is inhuman,” the prelate told OSV News.

The village has long been home to the Tripura Indigenous Christian community, but they were forcibly evicted a few years ago.

According to the villagers, they were living there for at least three generations. But a few years ago “a few powerful men” evicted them. This happened during the rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August after she was ousted by mass protests. After the fall of Hasina government, Tripura people built their house anew in the village and only recently moved in. Now their life lies in ruins once again.

“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, told 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.”

Local police arrested seven suspects in the arson attack.

The current government in Bangladesh has asked police to unearth the motive behind the attack as soon as possible.

Local authorities provided immediate food and relief materials to the families.

However, human rights activists Mikel Chakma told OSV News that this type of attack is not a novelty and that ethnic cleansing is happening under state policies.

“If the state took proper initiative after previous incidents, I think these types of heinous activities might be stopped,” the activist said.

Archbishop D’Cruze asked the government for investigation, justice, rehabilitation and compensation.

Christians account for less than half a percent of more than 170 million people in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation of Bangladesh.

This story was updated Dec. 31 at 12:20 p.m.

Read More Religious Freedom

Civil rights probe launched over state abuse reporting law’s lack of Catholic confession protections

Trump establishes religious liberty commission including Cardinal Dolan, Bishop Barron

Justices to decide on Catholic charter schools after hearing case

Washington Roundup: Trump, Biden to attend papal funeral; ‘Anti-Christian bias’ task force convened

Religious freedom, migration on agenda as Vance meets Cardinal Parolin

Rebuilt Brick Chapel in St. Mary’s City with its new interior features highlights Maryland as a birthplace of religious freedom

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Stephan Uttom Rozario

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV

  • U.S. cardinal’s résumé, demeanor land him on ‘papabile’ lists

  • Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine?

  • Kenyan cardinal claims he wasn’t invited for conclave; Vatican says invite is automatic

  • Advocates of abuse victims are rooting for a Filipino pope — and it’s not Cardinal Tagle

| Latest Local News |

Baltimore-area Catholics pray for new pope, express excitement for his leadership

Archbishop Lori surprised, heartened by selection of American pope

Missionary discipleship sees growth after Seek the City initiative

Knights of Columbus honored for pro-life support

Cumberland Knott scholar Joseph Khachan a perfect fit for program’s mission in Western Maryland  

| Latest World News |

Pilgrim Passport to 3 Wisconsin Marian shrines help faithful mark their Jubilee journey

Pope Leo to inaugurate his papacy May 18; a look at his May calendar

Report: Some House GOP members object to removing Planned Parenthood funds from Trump bill

New pope calls for Christian witness in world that finds faith ‘absurd’

Full text of first public homily of Pope Leo XIV

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Pilgrim Passport to 3 Wisconsin Marian shrines help faithful mark their Jubilee journey
  • Who is our new pope, Pope Leo XIV?
  • Pope Leo to inaugurate his papacy May 18; a look at his May calendar
  • Report: Some House GOP members object to removing Planned Parenthood funds from Trump bill
  • Movie Review: ‘Another Simple Favor’
  • New pope calls for Christian witness in world that finds faith ‘absurd’
  • Full text of first public homily of Pope Leo XIV
  • Midwest Augustinians celebrate in Pope Leo XIV a brother ‘rooted in the spirit of St. Augustine’
  • Pope Leo XIV: A biographical timeline

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED