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Bangladesh’s interim government, supported by the country’s most radical Islamic groups, is struggling with a host of issues which have led to human rights violations and restrictions of its citizens’ freedoms.
After a mass uprising (hijacked by Islamists) ended her 15-year rule, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024. The interim government is headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who returned from the US to work as Bangladesh’s caretaker.
Since then, Islamic attacks against religious minorities have surged. Women football matches have been cancelled due to Islamist pressure. Actors and authors are obstructed from carrying out their professional activities. Journalists face threats from attacks, investigations, and upcoming new cyber laws.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), six months after the country’s regime change, Bangladeshi journalists continue to be threatened and attacked. They also face new fears that planned legislation could undermine press freedom.
“Bangladesh’s interim government has drawn criticism from journalists and media advocates for its January introduction of drafts of two cyber ordinances: the Cyber Protection Ordinance 2025 (CPO) and Personal Data Protection Ordinance 2025. According to the Global Network Initiative, the draft of CPO gives the government ‘disproportionate authority’ to access user data and impose restrictions on online content. Journalists are also concerned that the proposed data law will give the government ‘unchecked powers’ to access personal data, with minimal opportunity for judicial redress.”
Meanwhile, serious attacks on journalists have risen, as evident by beatings carried out by police officers and political activists alike, as well as the storming of newsrooms, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported.
In Shariatpur, a town in southwestern Bangladesh, journalists face brutal reprisals for their work. On February 3, Shohag Khan, a correspondent for Dainik Samakal, was attacked by a hammer and knife for his reporting on medical negligence by the brother of a clinic owner and his accomplices. The day before, the journalist had received death threats.
On February 9, six journalists were attacked — this time by the police. Kawser Ahmed Ripon from The Report Live, Asif Uz Zaman and Muhammad Mahadi from Kaler Kantho, Azhar Rakib from Bangladesh Pratidin, Mohammad Redwan from Jaago News, and Shimul Khan from Breaking News were beaten with batons, punched, and kicked by riot police while covering a student protest in Dhaka. The injured journalists stated that the police deliberately targeted them, despite having their press cards visible, and have filed a complaint.
“The succession of multiple serious attacks against journalists in the past few days indicates a worrying surge in violence against the media. While the interim government’s takeover in August 2024 raised hopes for improvement, journalists’ safety remains unprotected. They are being assaulted while reporting, subjected to physical retaliation for their articles, and their newsrooms are being stormed by protesters,” Célia Mercier, Head of the RSF South Asia Desk, said.
Meanwhile, BBC reported that Islamists have forced the organizers to cancel a match in a women’s football tournament in northern Bangladesh. Shortly before the game began earlier this month, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh group announced a protest rally against the event in Rangpur region, saying it was un-Islamic. Local police intervened and the women’s team members were asked to return to their home for their safety.
The Islamists insist that the match they stopped was against their religious values and say that they are determined to prevent any future football games.
“If women want to play football, they should cover their entire body, and they can play only in front of female spectators. Men cannot watch them play,” Maulana Ashraf Ali, the leader of the Islami Andolan Bangladesh in the Taraganj area of Rangpur, said. He also insisted that the group “definitely” want hardline Islamic Sharia law in Bangladesh.
“I was frustrated and frightened. We had never faced such a situation before. It was disappointing that we came back without playing,” Asha Roy (age 17), a footballer, said.
The women’s football match was the third to be cancelled in northern Bangladesh in less than two weeks due to Islamist objections. In the Dinajpur area, Islamists protested against a game and later clashed with locals who supported it, leaving four people injured.
“If the government fails to act, then Islamists will feel emboldened. There will be more self-censorship for women and girls, they will be more intimidated participating in public events,” said Shireen Huq, a prominent women’s rights activist.
It is not just women’s football games that have been targeted. On February 10, dozens of Islamists vandalized a book stall at Dhaka’s famous Ekushey Book Fair. The protesters were angry over the display of books by the exiled feminist author Taslima Nasrin. In the past, Nasrin has received death threats from Islamist groups for allegedly “blasphemous” writings.
Islamists also targeted writer Shatabdi Vobo at the book fair, accusing him of selling Nasrin’s books. With police intervention, Vobo was escorted out of the fair, where he was also compelled to apologize publicly.
Meanwhile, one of the country’s best-known actors, Pori Moni, said she was stopped from inaugurating a department store in the northern town of Tangail after Islamist groups objected.
“Now I’m really feeling helpless, as well as insecure. It’s part of my job to take part in opening a showroom or a similar event. No one has stopped me all these years,” Moni said.
Similar events involving two other actors, Apu Biswas and Mehazabien Chowdhury, have also been cancelled because of Islamist threats.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, thousands of protesters vandalised and set fire to homes and buildings connected to Hasina and senior leaders of her Awami League Party. The security forces have not intervened to stop the rioters.
Religious minorities such as Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, remain vulnerable amid these dynamics. Reports of mob violence, forced conversions, and vandalism of places of worship are widespread, often fueled by Islamist propaganda.
According to the human rights organization, Open Doors, Bangladesh is not fulfilling its international obligations because it regularly violates and fails to protect the rights of religious minorities. For example, Christian converts are ostracized and faced with opposition by their families, as well as threatened with divorce and loss of child custody. Christian children are harassed because of their parents’ faith. Christians face restrictions in employment in the public sector and experience discrimination in the private sector. Christians face harassment and violence should they discuss their faith or engage in proselytization.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) reported that from August 4 to August 20, a total of 2,010 incidents of violent attacks on minorities took place across the country within this 16-day period during the protests that aimed to oust the government. A total of 915 homes were attacked, looted, or set on fire, and 953 business establishments faced similar fates. Additionally, four women were subjected to sexual assault, including one case of gang rape.
The Council further reported 174 attacks on religious minorities in the country in four months and 11 days (between August 21 and December 31, 2024).
The BHBCUC report said 64 of these incidents are of killing and repression on women, rape, gang rape, as well as attack on worship places, vandalism, loot and arson.
A total of 15 incidents were of arrest and harassment on allegations of “hurting religious sentiments”, and 38 were related to attacks on houses and businesses, vandalism, loot and arson. The report addressed 25 incidents of forcible usurpation of houses, land and businesses of religious minorities.
Even Islamic minority sects such as Sufi Muslims say they are witnessing increasing attacks on their places of worship at the hands of Sunni Muslims. “About a hundred of our shrines [mazars] and centres have been attacked in the past six months,” Anisur Rahman Jafri, Secretary General of the Sufism Universal Foundation, said.
“We have not seen this kind of sudden extremist attack on us since the country’s independence in 1971,” he added, warning that the country was at risk of “Talibanisation” if the situation continued.
Just as Afghanistan and Syria experienced, Bangladesh is now going through a process of full Islamization. It is eliminating the rights and security of religious minorities, of women, artists, authors, journalists and secular people. This transformation will also fuel a rise in Islamic terrorism, which is likely to be further imported to the rest of the world. The Trump administration should not repeat the mistakes of the Biden administration by ignoring (or even funding) Islamic regimes overseas that persecute minorities and produce terrorists who threaten international stability.