Hardliners’ Comeback in Bangladesh

Hardliners’ Comeback in Bangladesh

• Islamists, including Hefazat-e-Islam, have regained control of Bangladesh’s polity, following the departure of the ‘Begums’.
• Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tried to placate Hefazat-e-Islam, but the caretaker government leader, Muhammad Yunus, inducted the extremist group’s deputy chief Prof. A.F.M. Khalid Hossain as Adviser for Religious Affairs.
• Hefazat-e-Islam, a group of Sunni clerics and Quami madrassas students, protested against the Women’s Bill and the repeal of the Fifth Amendment.
• The group’s current amir is Muhibbullah Babunagari, who heads the central committee SUCHITRA KARTHIKEYAN.
• Despite violent protests against Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka, Sheikh Hasina chose to appease Hefazat, removing the statue of the Greek Goddess Themis from the Supreme Court premises in 2017.
• Hefazat launched its biggest protest in 2021 when Modi visited Dhaka, resulting in at least 13 deaths and several Hindu temples being targeted.
• After Modi’s departure, the Sheikh Hasina government arrested hundreds of Hefazat members, including 23 of its top leaders.
• After Hefazat began reorganizing and reforming, most incarcerated leaders were granted bail in 2023.
• Islamists have found a bigger ally in Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, who lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and granted bail to Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the al-Qaeda-inspired terror group Ansarullah Bangla.