Hundreds of activists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal staged a major protest in the high-security diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri in New Delhi on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. The demonstration, held near the Bangladesh High Commission, was a response to the recent killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh, leading to a tense standoff with police.
Protesters Breach Barricades in Diplomatic Zone
Shouting slogans and pushing past police barricades, close to 500 protesters gathered a few hundred metres from the fortified Bangladesh High Commission, near S Radhakrishnan Marg. The area witnessed a heavy deployment of security personnel and riot control vehicles. Protesters, holding saffron flags and placards, managed to break through the first layer of barricades set up by the police.
One placard read, "From the streets of Delhi, a call to stop the massacre of Bangladeshi Hindus." According to police officers at the spot, the protest was led by the VHP, with leaders from the Bajrang Dal and other smaller outfits also participating. The demonstration lasted for nearly two hours, starting around 11:30 AM and dispersing after 1 PM.
"They broke the first line of barricades… there were around 500 of them… no one sustained injuries," a police officer present at the scene stated. A protestor expressed the sentiment behind the agitation, saying, "Every Hindu in any country must be treated with respect. We demand action from the Bangladeshi authorities."
Trigger: The Killing of Dipu Chandra Das
The protest was specifically triggered by the brutal killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old Hindu youth, in Bangladesh. Das was allegedly beaten to death by a mob on December 18. The incident has heightened concerns among Hindu groups in India about the safety of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh.
In response to the murder, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Muhammad Yunus, has stated that seven people have been arrested in connection with Das's killing. However, this assurance has done little to quell the anger among certain groups in India, leading to the direct action outside the diplomatic mission.
Adding to Diplomatic Strains
The protest adds another layer to the existing diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh. Just a day before the demonstration, on Monday, December 22, the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi announced it had "temporarily suspended" all consular and visa services.
This suspension came amidst unrest in Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key leader of the protests that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government in 2024. Hadi, 32, was shot in the head by masked attackers last week while launching his election campaign in Dhaka and later died in a Singapore hospital. Notably, Bangladesh Police had suggested that suspects in Hadi's killing may have fled to India, where former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is currently living in exile.
The convergence of these two sensitive issues—the killing of a Hindu youth and the political assassination of a protest leader—has created a complex diplomatic scenario. The protest in Chanakyapuri underscores how domestic incidents in Bangladesh can quickly resonate and manifest as public demonstrations in India, testing the diplomatic channels between the two neighbouring nations.
