Bangladesh is Walking Against its Own Existence

On Thursday, March 13, 2025, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) imposed a ban on public gatherings, rallies in the area near the Bangladesh Secretariat, Jamuna Guest House, at present the office-cum-residence of chief advisor to the government, Muhammad Yunus, two international hotels and Shahbagh Maidan. 

The capital city was witnessing severe protests against growing incidents of rape and gang-rape. The victims include a minor girl from Magura, a suburb in southern Bangladesh, who died on Thursday afternoon in Combined Medical Hospital. The incident sparked huge outrage in the country.

Incidents of murder, rape, theft, and robbery have become common in Bangladesh. Apaert from the Magura rape incident, shocking incidents of disrespect toward women and violations of their rights have been reported. Women have been prevented from playing football, despite, in recent times, the Bangladesh women's football team making the most significant contribution to the country by winning the SAFF Football Championship.

The historic Shahbagh Maidan has become the epicentre of the protests. Several incidences of violence between the protesters and security forces, including Bangladesh Army, have also been reported.

In addition, on March 7, the Bangladesh capital witnessed violent incidents when Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned outfit since 2009, conducted an open march after making prior announcement. The ‘hide and seek’ between the police and Hizb supporters has become a hot topic of discussion in among people as the rally by the banned outfit was held defying the prohibitory orders imposed by DMP officials. This has led to allegations that the present dispensation in Bangladesh probably gave tacit support to the movement.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in India and several other countries, is a proponent of unification of the Muslim world into a single Caliphate. As they are reportedly linked with extremist activities, the group is outlawed in many countries with Muslim majority.

Their march for Khilafat (Caliphate) in Dhaka was successful because the security forces were not seen as seriously trying to stop them. The two key messages emerged from this -- one, after 16 years of ban, the outfit seems organisationally strong. Two, the interim government “allowed” them enough free space to run their activities.

After former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League fled the country, this outfit had openly claimed credit for being among the key players who took part in organising the mass upsurge in the country.

Notably, India has expressed grave concern regarding activities by divisive forces in Bangladesh and has registered its protest over the “soft stand” taken by the interim government there.

Pressure is building on the Bangladesh interim government to bring Sheikh Hasina, who is in exile in India, back to the country and put her on trial. On March 12, 2025, in Dhaka, the International Criminal Tribunal of Bangladesh issued fresh arrest warrant against the former Prime Minister on charges of another mass killing in Dhaka, Shapla area in 2013.

On February 5, Sheikh Hasina addressed her party followers online. She described Bangladesh as a “terrorist state, offering sanctuary to militants and terrorists”. In response to this, the Tohidi public, meaning the people united in faith to Allah, demolished the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at 32 Dhanmondi in Dhaka. This house was, in fact, the ‘mother's womb’ of Bangladesh. It is in this house that Mujib wrote the ‘Declaration of Independence’ on the night of March 25, 1971, which was broadcast on radio at the wee hours of March 26. Furthermore, the historic speech he gave on March 7, where he informally declared independence of then East Pakistan from the clutches of the Western counterpart.

The memories of Bangladesh's liberation movement and even earlier, the movement for self-determination, are all intricately linked to this house, much like the connection between a foetus and a mother's womb.

What is surprising is that neither the police nor the military made any effort to stop the destruction of such an important historical site. Even when the army reached the scene, they reportedly turned back. What’s more surprising is that the interim government did not strongly condemn the incident and merely issued a statement calling it ‘undesirable.’ The interim government has also remained silent against the havoc caused by extremists in the country.

Bangladesh is walking against its own existence. Secularism and the spirit of communal harmony are being made a mockery of.

In her speeches, Hasina held out a warning to the army and said they should not be a party to the “dubious acts” of the interim government. She declared that the United Nations would not take kindly to the army aiding and abetting a “terrorist state”. The deposed Prime Minister also referred to the large number of Bangladeshi army personnel who used to be drafted every year for duty abroad as part of the UN Peacekeeping Force, who were paid handsomely and looked forward to the opportunity to serve the UN.

The UN, however, may well stop giving this ‘lucrative’ opportunity to the Bangladeshi army, Hasina said, if they continued to help the interim government headed by Md. Yunus.

The address by Sheikh Hasina received widespread attention and predictably the interim government in Dhaka was upset, questioning the political propriety of the fugitive leader making “wild charges” from foreign soil.

The question is, why is India allowing Hasina to say all these things. In fact, the way the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh is describing her country's current situation is actually in line with the Indian government's stance. Declaring Bangladesh a “terrorist state” could be India's last resort. Before that, they will wait to see which direction Bangladesh takes.

What is undeniable, however, is Sheikh Hasina’s record of nursing zero tolerance to terror. Her government had cracked down on terrorists and terror networks ruthlessly, and several terrorists were swiftly tried and sentenced to death. India benefitted from the crackdown as the Hasina government handed over several terrorists carrying out subversive activities in India. The Awami League government hanged several terrorists in 2013 and over the next three years claimed to have killed 80 terrorists and arrested 300 more.

Barely a month before Hasina’s ouster, the then chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) told the BBC that the back of terror networks had been broken. He had boasted that the terror outfits merely had some online presence and CTTC maintained a close watch on their activities. The situation has clearly changed since then.

On September 12, 2024, a month after Hasina was forced to flee, military and police raided houses in the Shah Ali locality of Dhaka and claimed to have arrested two suspects with terrorist links and seized arms and ammunition. The Bangladesh Army headquarters claimed in November that since August 5, the army had seized 6,000 illegal arms, 200,000 rounds of ammunition and arrested 2,500 criminals and militants.

Such drives against terrorists and militants have, however, receded in recent months. It is alleged that the courts have, in fact, been releasing a large number of convicted terrorists on the ground that they were victims of persecution by the Awami league government. Mahfuz Alam, introduced by the Md. Yunus as the “mastermind” of the movement that overthrew Hasina was allegedly a member of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. As many as six advisors to the interim government are allegedly members of one radical outfit or the other.

It is also significant that the head of Ansararullah Bangla Team or ABT, Jasim Uddin Rahmani, was freed on bail just 20 days after Sheikh Hasina fled the country. Arrested in 2013 for the killing of blogger Rajiv Haider and convicted, Rahmani was released as early as August 24, 2024. ABT is said to have links with Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent and Ansar-al-Islam, both banned outfits. Significantly, after he was released on bail, he appears to have melted away with his whereabouts ‘unknown’. 

Hasina alleged that hordes of criminals and terror suspects have been released since August 5, 2024, which is now being hailed as the new Independence Day in Bangladesh. She claimed that 389 Awami League leaders and supporters were lynched or burnt to death in Bangladesh between July and October 2024, thousands have been arrested on trumped up charges and many more have fled after their homes and businesses.

As radical Islamist outfits grow in influence, security risks for India have reportedly increased. A report in the mainstream media last month quoted sources in Indian intelligence agencies as saying that they had information of renewed infiltrations and revival of sleeper cells and safe houses in India. The reports also pointed to a racket busted in West Bengal of forging passports and visa and the arrests of suspected terrorists from West Bengal and Tripura in recent months.

West Bengal and major North Eastern states share a long stretch of border with Bangladesh and hence are particularly vulnerable to “terror activities” from across the border.

More worryingly, on December 6, 2024, the Director General of Prisons, Bangladesh conceded that 174 militants had been freed from prisons during the previous four months. Altogether 2,247 prisoners, including 88 on the death row, also escaped in jailbreaks since July last year.

Sheikh Hasina also claimed that several terrorists convicted in the bomb blast in Holy Artisan restaurant in Dhaka in 2016, in which 20 people were killed including seven Italians, seven Japanese and an Indian, have also been released from prison. The memorial outside the restaurant put up in the memory of slain policemen has also been reportedly demolished.

Besides these disturbing incidents, a few other steps of the interim government of Bangladesh have turned out to be cause for worries to India. Last year, after the mass upsurge, statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were vandalised. Important souvenirs and landmarks of the ‘liberation struggle’ were also destroyed.

In such a situation, what can bring about far-reaching consequences is the proposal for amendment of the existing Constitution of Bangladesh. In the first Constitution enacted immediately after the establishment of independent Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib, the four main principles of governance declared were -- nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism-- in line with the concept of the liberation struggle.

The present constitution amendment commission, headed by Prof Ali Riaz has suggested the main principles of 'equality, human dignity, social justice, pluralism and democracy ' and has excluded ' secularism' and 'socialism'.

Meanwhile, the student leadership has raised the demand for election of a constituent assembly for drafting a new Constitution keeping in consideration the aspirations of the July-August upheavals. 

Pakistan is an Islamic state since inception. Many changes to the original Constitution passed under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were brought in by the two military generals -- Ziaur Rahaman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad. The former introduced the phrase ‘Bismillah Rahmanir Rahim' as the opening lines of Constitution. The latter declared 'Islam' as the state religion. Hasina brought back the word ‘secularism', leaving, however, the other two additions introduced by her predecessors intact.

After crossing of the centenary of Sheikh Mujib, the future of Bangladesh is swinging between the two extremes, ‘Mujibbad’ meaning Mujibism and ‘Mujib baad’ denoting the dethronement of everything that Mujib stood for.

According to the proposed amendments, the basic differences between the constitutions of Bangladesh and Pakistan would wither. And it may be no surprise if demands for deletion of the two words ‘secularism’ and ‘socialism’ from the Indian Constitution, too, gather momentum.

The writer is Executive Editor, The Wall, and former Senior Editor, Times of India. The views are personal.