In a despicable display of misogyny and political desperation, the online goon squads of the radical Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, have sunk to new lows by peddling a private video of Barrister Zaima Rahman, daughter of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, and slandering her for her dress.
This fundamentalist cesspoolโinfamous for its women-hating rhetoric and slut-shaming tacticsโhas flooded social media with footage showing Zaima dancing joyfully with friends at a London concert before her return to Bangladesh in December alongside her father.
What should be a harmless snapshot of youthful exuberance in a free society has been weaponised by these backward fanatics to demean, degrade, and politically sabotage a woman who dares to step into the public eye.
The video, confirmed by multiple fact-checking outlets as authentic, captures Zaima in London’s vibrant nightlife, swaying to Bollywood tunes amid a mixed crowd of boys and girlsโa scene that would be utterly unremarkable in any modern, tolerant society.
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But for the puritanical thugs of Jamaat-Shibir, it’s ammunition in their endless crusade against women’s autonomy. Leading the charge is Md. Sajib Hossain, a Dhaka University Shibir cadre (euphemistically called a “Sathi”) and General Secretary of the so-called “The Red July” organizationโa front for extremist propaganda. Sajib Hossain shamelessly amplified the clip, turning it viral to stoke outrage among their echo chambers of hate. He also zoomed the videoโs screenshots to show her cleavage.
This is cyber-terrorism disguised as moral policing, aimed at humiliating Zaima for the crime of living freely before embracing her Bangladeshi roots.
These radical Islamists, who cloak their bigotry in religious garb, have a long, putrid history of targeting women who defy their medieval worldview. Remember Sanjida Ahmed Tanvi, the DUCSU Research and Publication Secretary, who accused Shibir goons of orchestrating character assassination on social media? They hounded her over her attire, personal life, and photos, fabricating lies to silence her after she protested their vile slurs, labelling DUCSU a “den of drugs and prostitution.”
Or Jamaat Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman’s infamous post equating women’s work outside the home to “prostitution”โa statement so toxic it sparked nationwide protests, including broom marches by furious students and working women in Dhaka, Jagannath University, and Mirpur. Though they claimed a “hack,” the damage exposed their core rot: a deep-seated hatred for empowered women.
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Analysts aren’t mincing wordsโthis is textbook gender-based political violence in digital form.
Senior journalist Probir Kumar Sarker said that by amplifying Zaima’s video, Jamaat’s bot army isn’t just attacking her; they’re exploiting Bangladesh’s conservative undercurrents to undermine Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, their former ally turned foe.
Even Abdul Hannan Masud, a Jamaat-NCP alliance member and newly elected MP from Noakhali-6, hypocritically condemned the video after detailing it in his postsโa sly tactic to spread it further while feigning piety. It’s a calculated smear: drag a woman’s past into the spotlight to paint her as “unfit” in a society they seek to regress into Taliban-lite oppression.
But let’s call it what it is: these are not guardians of morality; they’re pathetic, insecure radicals terrified of women like Zaima, who was raised in London’s progressive circles yet chooses to honour Bangladeshi traditions upon return.
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Defenders on social media rightly point out the hypocrisyโwhy shame a young woman for dancing when the real scandal is the extremists’ obsession with controlling female bodies? Some even speculate about deepfakes, but even if genuine, it’s irrelevant: personal freedoms aren’t up for radical Islamist adjudication.
Zaima, via her verified X profile and Facebook account, embodies resilience with her bio proclaiming a commitment to honest politics for Bangladesh’s people. Yet, the viral stormโfuelled by Instagram reels, Facebook rants, and YouTube shortsโhas turned her into fodder for the morally bankrupt. Pleas from sane voices urging restraint fall on deaf ears among the hatemongers, who revel in this digital lynching.
This isn’t politics; it’s predation. Jamaat-Shibir’s women-hating radicals must be exposed and shunned for the threats they pose to women’s empowerment and cyber safety. In a nation striving for progress, their toxic agenda has no place. Zaima Rahman deserves applause for her poise, not the vile arrows of these cowardly propagandists. It’s time to purge this poison from our digital spacesโbefore their hatred consumes us all.
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