From lynching to lawlessness: How Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is losing control to Islamist forces

Hindus Protest in Bangladesh. (File Image)

A 25-year-old poor Hindu garment factory worker was lynched; his body was hung from a tree and burnt. The horrendous incident taking place in the Mymensingh district was followed by the beating of a Hindu rickshaw puller in Jhenaidah, 200 km from the capital, Dhaka. These were neither the first nor the last of the incidents of this kind. These are also not isolated incidents. These incidents show the present trend in Bangladesh, as according to data compiled by the human rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), between August 2024 and September, 220 people were attacked and killed by mobs across Bangladesh.

Bangladesh mob lynching

The first incident occurred after the victim was accused of making derogatory comments to Prophet Muhammad; the victim of the second incident was targeted because of a red thread on his wrist. The mob called him a “R&AW agent,” referring to India’s Research and Analysis Wing. These incidents show how Muhammad Yunus has lost control of the administration and how he has handed over the country to the Islamic fundamentalists. The interim government has been accused of empowering groups like the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which was banned under the Sheikh Hasina government for terror links.

(Radical Islamist Sharif Omar Hadi.)

Muhammad Yunus’s interim government fails

The Nobel laureate has refused to draw lessons even after these incidents. Attending the funeral of radical leader Sharif Osman Hadi, who was killed after being shot in the head by masked assailants, he vowed to fulfill his vision. Addressing the people gathered there, he said, “O dear Osman Hadi, we have not come here to bid you farewell. You are within our hearts, and as long as Bangladesh exists, you will remain in the hearts of all Bangladeshis.” He added, “No one can remove you from there. Millions of people have gathered today, coming in waves, while crores of people across Bangladesh and Bangladeshis living abroad are waiting for this moment to listen about Hadi.”

Hadi’s outfit, Inquilab Mancha, was at the forefront of a campaign to disband Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. Instead of trying to be inclusive and giving the opposition an opportunity to prove itself, the Yunus-led interim government disbanded Hasina’s party in May this year and disqualified it from contesting the polls. 

Jamaat-e-Islamic Bangladesh

He has been very kind to the Islamic forces and accommodative to the Jamaat-e-Islami, and it is  not a secret in Bangladesh now. Days after taking over the reign of the government, Yunus lifted the ban on the Jamaat on August 28. Founded during British colonial rule in 1941, Jamaat-e-Islami campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971. The Islamic outfit has been increasing its clout since the ban was lifted and has emerged as a strong force with the help of Yunus. 

(Violence after death of Sharif Omar Hadi)

Radical Islam in Bangladesh

Since he assumed office on August 8, 2024, hundreds of Hindu temples have been vandalized or set ablaze, and an unknown number of Hindus have been lynched. The Yunus-led government has turned a blind eye, and the state institutions have either facilitated or ignored the atrocities. Radical Islamic outfits like Hefazat-e-Islam, Azadi Andolan Bangladesh, and Towhidi Janata operate freely, indulge in hate campaigns against Hindus, and spread terror among them. 

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, advisor to the interim government, publicly announced the recruitment and training of 8,850 individuals across seven centers to terrorise the people. These recruits will  be trained in martial arts, judo, taekwondo, and firearms training. The training will be imparted by retired Bangladeshi officers with strong pro-Pakistan sympathies, alongside covert ISI and Turkey’s Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MIT) operatives. Analysts believe this is being done to silence all those who may oppose the government.

Bangladesh, which way?

If reports are to be believed, the Muhammad Yunus-led government is increasing alignment with Islamist forces. He is planning to raise an Iranian-style Islamic Revolutionary Army that may transform the nation into a potential jihadist stronghold and muzzle all voices of dissent.