In a provocative display that has ignited fears of escalating religious tensions, leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami—a pivotal ally of the Yunus-led interim government and key patron of Touhidi Janata mobs—organised a large-scale picnic featuring cow slaughter, or jeafot, Adhan, public prayers, and Islamic chants at the foothills of the revered Chandranath Dham, a UNESCO-recognised holy Hindu pilgrimage site.
The event, held under the pilgrimage land near Bridge No. 2 in Sitakunda on Saturday, has drawn sharp condemnation from minority rights advocates, who see it as part of a disturbing pattern of Islamist encroachments emboldened by political patronage.
The gathering, hosted by former Upazila Jamaat Amir Maulana Towhidul Haq Chowdhury, attracted over 1,500 participants, including Chittagong-4 MP candidate Anwar Siddiqui, current Upazila Jamaat Amir Maulana Mizanur Rahman, and Secretary Md. Abu Tahir, and more than 500 Jamaat leaders and workers from local unions.
Cows were slaughtered on-site to feed attendees, followed by the call to prayer, congregational Namaz, and performances of Islamic songs and slogans—all unfolding in the shadow of the 11th-century Chandranath Temple, which is a sacred space for Hindus and Buddhists across South Asia.
Local organisers extended invitations to several hundred Hindu voters in the area, ostensibly to foster community ties. However, attendees from the Hindu community expressed profound dismay upon witnessing the rituals, which they viewed as a blatant desecration of the site’s sanctity.
“The air filled with the sounds of slaughter and chants in a place meant for quiet devotion—it was heartbreaking,” one anonymous Hindu devotee told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns. Fearing reprisals in the charged political climate, they refrained from voicing protests at the scene.
Journalist Biplab Parth, who broke the story, described the event as “a calculated provocation” designed to assert dominance over shared sacred spaces. Rights groups echoed this sentiment, warning that such actions risk inflaming communal divides at a time when Bangladesh’s minorities already face heightened vulnerability.
Echoes of August: Hefazat’s Mosque Push and Islamist Momentum
This incident revives haunting memories of a similar bid four months earlier, when extremists affiliated with Hefazat-e-Islam—another hardline Islamist outfit with deep ties to the interim regime—aggressively campaigned to construct a mosque atop or adjacent to Chandranath Hill. In mid-August, Mufti MM Saiful Islam, a Faridpur-based entrepreneur and madrasa alumnus, spearheaded the effort via social media, arguing that the “tourist hotspot” lacked prayer facilities for the country’s 93% Muslim population. He claimed Muslims were “arrested for giving Adhan” and rallied supporters with posts decrying the site’s “exclusivity.”
Saiful’s push gained traction after a meeting at Chattogram’s Hathazari Madrasa—Hefazat’s ideological nerve center—with Mufti Harun Izhar, son of a HuJI-B founder and a key Yunus aide known for forging Islamist coalitions. Izhar pledged administrative intervention, declaring the mosque “90% confirmed” and vowing to build it “a little below the temple at the base of a banyan tree.” The announcement exploded online, amassing 2,500 shares, 11,000 reactions—including over 3,900 “haha” emojis mocking Hindu sensitivities—and thousands of comments in mere hours.
Though the interim government, through Religious Affairs Adviser and Hefazat leader AFM Khalid Hossain, dismissed the plans as “out of the question” and vowed swift action against provocations, critics argue the episode exposed regulatory laxity.
Devotees have long protested unregulated tourism at the site, citing incidents of harassment, littering with beef products (taboo for Hindus), and social media threats to “capture the hill for Allah.” Past campaigns, including a 2023 “Beef Barbeque Party” organised by radical youth, have similarly defiled the 1,020-foot hill, visible from the Dhaka-Chattogram rail line.
Yunus-Jamaat Ties Fuel Alarm Over Minority Persecution
The timing and audacity of these events are particularly alarming given Jamaat-e-Islami’s burgeoning alliance with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s administration. Since the August 2024 ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, the Yunus regime has lifted longstanding bans on Jamaat activities, enabling massive rallies in Dhaka and positioning the party as a reform influencer. This partnership, alongside coalitions with offshoots like the National Citizen Party, has shifted Bangladesh’s politics rightward, with Jamaat issuing five-point demands to the government and warning of “tough action” if unmet. Analysts note the BNP-Jamaat split has further empowered the Islamists, allowing them to steer Yunus’s agenda amid youth radicalisation drives.
This political cover, rights monitors say, has supercharged anti-Hindu campaigns intertwined with anti-India rhetoric. Post-Hasina, Hindus—often stereotyped as “Indian proxies”—have endured over 258 attacks in six months, including 27 killings and 20 rapes, per the Oikya Parishad.
Early 2025 saw 48 minority assaults from January to April alone, per human rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). Jihadist propaganda frames India as an “existential threat,” fueling mob violence and disinformation. Recent polls have amplified deepfakes and anti-India narratives, with Hefazat and Jamaat affiliates implicated in temple demolitions and lynchings over “blasphemy.”
“These aren’t isolated picnics or proposals—they’re territorial assertions backed by those in power,” said Chinmoy Prabhu, a Hindu rights leader repeatedly denied bail on unrelated charges. The interim government’s security clampdown announced Saturday amid fresh unrest offers cold comfort, as devotees demand immediate halts to tourism and encroachments to preserve sites like Chandranath, alongside Medhas Muni Ashram and the Golden Temple.
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