By Ghulam Mohammed Quader In search of livelihood, the people of Bangladesh are now scattered across various corners of the world. Recently, news has been published that two Bangladeshis were killed in an anti-terrorism operation in Pakistan. In the Ukraine war as well, the identities of two Bangladeshis fighting as mercenaries for Russia have been found—one has been killed, the other is alive.
If financing and patronage are received, this country, with its huge number of poor and religiously devout population, cannot avoid the risk of turning into a centre for producing “militants” and “suicide attackers” for the entire world.
Is Bangladesh then moving from a tolerant, non-communal, liberal Muslim-majority state toward a communal “Islamic state”? This question is now worrying the conscious citizens of the country as well as international observers.
From Student Movement to Mass Uprising
At the beginning of July 2024, a student movement started demanding quota reform in government jobs, which quickly transformed into a nationwide anti-discrimination mass movement. People from all classes and professions joined it regardless of age or political position. The participants built resistance against attacks from non-violent to armed.
Delhi on edge as anti-India protests rock Dhaka, threaten northeast security
Chittagong University pro-VC’s lies about the 1971 war expose distortion campaign
Liberation War monuments lie in ruins as Yunus rehabilitates razakars
On August 5, 2024, the Awami League government fell, marking the ultimate outcome of this movement. Later, an interim government was formed. The head of government openly declared the student leaders of the movement as the “appointing authority” and guardians of the new administration. Some of them were appointed to the cabinet and given responsibilities as advisers, consultants, or overseers in various ministries. As a result, a section of the young student activists became the unwritten guardians of the state. Even the chief adviser described this mass uprising as “meticulously designed.”
In the ongoing narrative, the caretaker government and young leadership continue to identify all those oppressed by the previous government as patriots and everyone else as collaborators of the “fascist Hasina government.”
Creating Opportunities for Religious Extremism
During Sheikh Hasina’s era, militant groups were cornered through strict security operations. They were among the strongest opponents of the Hasina government. Recent reports make it clear that these groups played an important role in the fall of the previous regime. Several groups have even openly admitted to being involved in violence and sabotage during the movement. Some of them have clearly positioned themselves in favour of rewriting the constitution and establishing an Islamic state by erasing various elements of Bangladesh’s thousand-year history, culture, and heritage.
We can recall that during the movement and after the mass uprising, walls across the capital and other cities of the country were covered with flags, slogans, and Arabic script similar to Hizb ut-Tahrir and IS.
Some among the coordinators of the movement have expressed solidarity with these groups in various ways. Their common goal was to remove the Awami League government and establish an Islamist political arrangement. Until US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard warned about the rise of militancy in Bangladesh, their activities were being explained as “patriotic,” and they were openly promoting anti-state activities. Shortly after that, on April 1, 2025, a report titled “As Bangladesh Reinvents Itself, Islamic Hardliners See an Opening” was published in The New York Times.
US issues fresh security alert for Bangladesh as pre-election tensions escalate
Arrest of journalist Anis Alamgir sparks outcry over press freedom
Yunus intensifies crackdown with Devil Hunt-2, over 1,000 arrested on day 1
Despite the caretaker government limiting its open activities under growing global pressure, its activities continue in different forms.
Pressure to Create a New State Structure
The ordinary people who participated in the anti-discrimination movement wanted fair elections, an accountable government, and a discrimination-free society. But some among the coordinators of the movement did not limit their goals to just electoral reforms; they started talking about forming a completely new state structure in the name of a “new arrangement”—whose outline sounds much like a repetition of the communal politics of the Pakistan era. In the statements of several of them, the Liberation War has been described as a “foreign conspiracy,” freedom fighters called traitors, and Bangladesh’s independence presented as a historical mistake.
It is now clear that Jamaat-e-Islami and their student organisation, Islami Chhatra Shibir, were deeply active inside the July movement.
The background of many coordinators of the movement shows that they grew up with Islamist ideology and were secretly connected to the Jamaat–Shibir network.
The leaders of the movement have also raised demands for structural reforms consistent with the trial of past crimes against humanity and their ideological goals. To implement these goals, the communal and extremist forces controlled by Jamaat now seem determined to seize state power—whether directly or through a farcical election arranged in their favour.
Farcical Election for State Power
The interim government has broken the national unity built during the uprising and divided the country’s political sphere into two poles—on one side, the liberal and centrist political parties with broad public support, and on the opposite side, conservative or hardline Islamist groups.
Liberal forces are being deprived of their political rights, even human rights, by labelling them as “accomplices of fascists.”
Awami League rejects Yunus regime’s election schedule
Fake July Martyr: Police for withdrawal of murder case against Sheikh Hasina
On May 12, 2025, an administrative order suspended the political activities of the Awami League. Various reports indicate that Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies are planning to ban the Jatiya Party (JaPa) and the 14-party alliance as well. Even if permission is given to participate in the election, government-supported obstacles, violence, and unequal competitive conditions are being created to confront JaPa with an adverse environment.
As a result, such a political arrangement is emerging where the election will effectively stand as: one side, Jamaat and its allies, meaning the side directly receiving patronage from the interim government, and the other side, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Yet according to past vote calculations, even these two groups combined represent at most half of the total voters.
There are numerous reports against Jamaat regarding spending huge amounts of money to buy votes and using trained cadres to intimidate opponents. According to observers, with the patronage of the interim government, Jamaat has taken control of the administration, law enforcement agencies, judiciary, and election-related institutions.
At a rally held in Chittagong on November 22, Jamaat’s central committee member Shahjahan Chowdhury said: “Elections are not just by the people…whoever is in the administration in each electoral area, all of them have to be brought under us. They will rise at our words, sit at our words, arrest at our words, and file cases at our words.”
He further said: “The police will have to walk behind you. The OC sahib will find out your program in the morning and give you the protocol.”
A recent survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI) says that if elections are held next week, the BNP would get 30% of the votes and the Jamaat-e-Islami would get 26%. The survey also shows that 53% of respondents have a positive attitude toward Jamaat Islami, which is slightly higher than BNP’s 51%. Meanwhile, 7% of voters are still undecided, and 11% refused to disclose their preference.
Analysts believe that if the Awami League, the 14-party alliance, and Jatiya Party (JaPa) do not get the opportunity to participate in the election, Jamaat and its allies could seize state power through a one-sided election.
Risks of an Islamist Governance System
Bangladesh is a densely populated country with 170 million people and limited resources, where about 90% of the population is Muslim. Fertile land is the main resource of this country. According to World Bank data, about 39 million people in the country live below the poverty line. Of them, 15.8 million are in extreme poverty. On one hand, limited employment opportunities, on the other, high rates of unemployment. As a result, every year, hundreds of thousands of people migrate abroad, risking their lives in search of work. Many are forced to take dangerous and illegal routes.
If financing and ideological patronage are received, Bangladesh’s huge number of economically distressed, religiously devout young people could turn into a vast recruitment pool for extremist networks. If communal Islamic parties and armed groups come to state power, it could become a dire threat not only for Bangladesh but also for global security.
Author: Chairman, Jatiya Party (JaPa).
Bengali 
English