How the Islamist surge in Bangladesh is a threat to India too
A disturbing layer to this emerging ecosystem is the role of sympathetic media figures. A journalist affiliated with a popular Bangla daily has been named in the report as a key propagandist and enabler of Ijhar's network. This person, closely associated with the daily's editor and a Bangladeshi ideologue, has allegedly worked to suppress coverage of Islamist violence in mainstream media. He also collaborates with controversial YouTuber Elias Hossain to craft misleading narratives that portray Bangladesh as free from extremism—despite mounting evidence to the contrary.The intelligence report identifies 15 individuals embedded in various professional domains such as healthcare, academia, digital content creation and religious education, who are operating as covert recruiters and propagandists for Hizb ut-Tahrir and Islamic State affiliates. Recruits are often drawn from elite institutions, including the Bangladesh University of Engineering and technology (BUET) and private universities, where they are groomed to act as 'sleeper agents' and 'ideological multipliers'.The report outlines three competing but overlapping hypotheses regarding the motivations of these networks. The first posits that the extremists are deliberately fomenting chaos in order to delay or disrupt the upcoming election and create conditions favourable for a covert military or ideological takeover. The second suggests these groups may be acting at the behest of a powerful interest group—possibly with foreign links—that seeks to prevent the election from taking place on time, thereby preserving a transitional status quo favourable to their strategic interests. The third, longer-term strategy appears to involve weakening the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) through a sustained campaign of propaganda and intimidation.advertisementBy reducing the BNP's projected seat count and rendering it incapable of forming a stable government, Islamist factions hope to gain parliamentary leverage—particularly under the Yunus government's proposed reforms that grant more power to the opposition. Over time, this could pave the way for an incremental Islamist capture of Bangladesh's political system through legal and electoral mechanisms.India, which shares a porous 4,096-km border with Bangladesh, has taken note of these developments with deep concern. The resurgence of Islamist extremism in a neighbouring state carries immediate implications for border security, communal harmony in West Bengal and Assam, and cross-border terrorism. The use of digital platforms to radicalise individuals in Bangladesh could easily be replicated across the border, especially in vulnerable minority-dense districts. Indian intelligence officials have already red-flagged signs of ideological spillover and potential infiltration routes being tested along the border.Amid these threats, the response from the interim Yunus government has been notably restrained. Despite repeated red flags raised by national and foreign security agencies, key figures with open links to internationally proscribed organisations are operating with near impunity. Public seminars, inflammatory sermons and strategic recruitment drives have continued unabated. While Yunus has publicly committed to holding free and fair elections in April 2026, his administration's reluctance to crack down on rising extremism has raised serious questions about its priorities and political calculations. Some analysts believe the leniency stems from an unwillingness to alienate powerful religious groups or stir controversy ahead of elections. Others fear that parts of the interim establishment may view the Islamists as a counterweight to both the Awami League and the BNP.advertisementThe joint intelligence report concludes with a warning that unless urgent and coordinated action is taken—both by Dhaka and its regional partners—the Islamist resurgence could reverse years of progress in secular governance and democratic institution-building in Bangladesh. For India, the report serves as a stark reminder that the next phase of regional instability may not arise from across its western frontier—but from its east.Subscribe to India Today Magazineadvertisement
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India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Fall of Sheikh Hasina: An uprising, urban guerilla tactic or army inaction?
On August 5 last year, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina boarded a military helicopter in the nick of time to flee from Bangladesh as lakhs of protesters headed towards her official residence in Dhaka. Such was the haste that she couldn't even record an address to the nation that she wanted to. But how did the regime of Hasina, who ruled with an iron fist for 15 years, crumble within weeks?advertisementWas it more than just a student-led uprising? Did urban guerilla-style attacks aided by Hasina's political rivals and the hands-off approach of the military play as big a role as the agitation itself in pulling down the Awami League-led government?Bangladeshi political experts and activists in Dhaka and those in self-imposed exile describe how it was a perfect storm that combined all the above to blow away the regime that had the backing of the security and intelligence apparatus and foot soldiers of her Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League. The official death toll of the mass protest, which saw security personnel opening fire on unarmed protesters and retaliatory attacks on the police, stands at 1,400. Experts suggest the toll to be much political analyst Shafquat Rabbee says it was a "confluence of fortuitous events and conditions that all came together, ending up in a spectacular collapse for Hasina the tyrant".Rabbee talks about how the videos of brutal killings by the security forces got all sections of Bangladeshi society to take to the streets against Hasina.A political commentator from Dhaka, requesting anonymity, tells India Today Digital that anti-Hasina forces had cultivated people for years within the administration. As the students-led agitation peaked, those officials stopped functioning, bringing about a total collapse of the state parties like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, which were suppressed by the Hasina regime, too played their part, the experts agree. The students wouldn't have lasted even a single night without the support of the parties' street-fighters, who have protected them with their experience of taking on the police political activist and writer Faham Abdus Salam says the attack on the police personnel revealed the movement had moved to the next phase, and that the Hasina government had lost its fear last nail in the Hasina regime's coffin was Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman's declaration that the forces wouldn't shoot at protesters. This came as a booster shot for the crowd, which now had students, common people and members of political and Islamist also reveals that some within the military establishment harboured thoughts of preparing a guerilla force if Hasina hung on to power beyond August year on, as the haze somewhat lifts, the July-August movement can be divided into three distinct phases, which reveal the role of the political parties and the military in the ouster of Hasina. Till now, the July-August movement was perceived as only a student-spearheaded are the three turning points that unfolded in succession:1: Anti-quota agitation by students turns into a single-point demand seeking Hasina's resignation2: Protest across Bangladesh after police fire at protesters, cops targeted in guerilla-style attacks3: Army goes for a hands-off approach, with protests even at Defence Officers Housing Societies A vandalised police station is in Dhaka on August 6, a day after Hasina fled the country. After Hasina's departure, a wave of violence erupted with several police stations ransacked and officers targeted in retaliatory attacks. (AFP Image) BRUTAL KILLING VIDEOS FANNED ANTI-HASINA IRESheikh Hasina returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January 2024. The election was boycotted by the BNP, the main opposition party, and was alleged to have been extremely rigged and were tired of the corrupt regime, but enforced disappearances by the establishment forced people to stay silent. The brutal Aynaghar torture or the fear of it forced some of the best brains to flee Bangladesh. The government was seen to be working just for Hasina cronies and Awami this, the Bangladesh High Court's decision in June to reinstate a quota that would reserve 30% of the civil service jobs for descendants of 1971 War veterans, seen as Hasina backers, lit the took to the streets in a country where a government job is seen by millions as the only way out of poverty. The protests gained momentum in July, and Hasina's branding the students "Razakar", a highly despicable term in Bangladesh, acted like a catalyst. The protests spread across mid-July, Chhatra League members, along with the police, were fighting the protesters on the streets of Dhaka. On July 16, six protesters, including 25-year-old student Abu Sayed, were killed by police firing."For the Hasina government, after July 17, it was all about crushing the movement. People retaliated, and then the regime started killing people indiscriminately," says Salam, who has been living in Australia in a self-imposed exile for a image of Abu Sayed inviting bullets with open arms went on to define the protests. Videos of brutal attacks and killings of protesters unnerved all sections of Bangladeshi society."Urban guerilla tactics work by creating victims, and fighting the war around them," says the political commentator from tried to buy peace by promising a probe, but the situation had spiralled out of control. On August 3, the Students Against Discrimination came out with a single-point demand -- Sheikh Hasina's organic protests do not last beyond days without support from established political or civil structures. That the students-led agitation and the students themselves survived and fought for weeks pointed at the role of political parties and the military in the fall of Hasina. A student of English literature, Abu Sayed defiantly stood with a stick in his hand before he was shot and killed at close range by the police. (Image: Social Media) advertisementMASTANS OF BNP, JAMAAT PROVIDED STREET MUSCLEPolitical parties like the BNP and the Jamaat, facing political suppression, had been emaciated. Such was the situation, that the Jamaat didn't manage to even unlock its sealed office in Dhaka over the students' protest gave the parties the much-needed oxygen, and they used the students' agitation to launch a full-scale attack on the Hasina apparatus."After July 19, police were attacked not by university students, but by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists and daily-waged labourers who had joined in the protests by then," Salam tells India Today evidence of that, the activist points to a video of protesters chasing away a team of security personnel in five vans, which went viral."You can see one person starts running at the police, and then a crowd follows him and starts chasing the cops. The person who first started chasing the cops was later identified as a BNP member. This was the case in most instances. Those leading the attacks against cops were either BNP or Jamaat members or daily-waged labourers," says says among all the political parties, the BNP counts the highest number of dead activists during the July-August agitation for a reason."Parties like the BNP had seasoned leadership who were battle-hardened and knew how to survive and fight government machinery. The young student leaders brought political innocence into the play and attracted the masses, and the BNP and the Jamaat provided street credibility and muscle," Rabbee tells India Today political parties like the BNP also arranged physical safety and safe houses for the student leaders when they were on the says the Hasina government, which had dealt with online activists, was spooked by two things -- shut down of remittances by Bangladeshi expats and attacks on police stations."People attacking the cops was an escalation that showed that the movement was in the next phase. The retaliation was evidence that the fear of the Hasina regime was gone, and it could be toppled," explains goes on to show that it wasn't the students who were mostly involved in the street warfare was that the worst violence took place after Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5. There were political reprisal killings in which scores of Awami League and Chhatra League leaders were massacred."Members of Islamist organisations and Jamaat members were at the forefront when it came to attacking cops and Awami League leaders. They followed urban guerilla tactics to bring down the Hasina government, and exact revenge after that," said the Dhaka-based had descended into lawlessness and chaos for days after the fall of the Hasina regime, and the army had to step in. Following Hasina's flight, the Bangladeshi army took control, and oversaw the transition of power amidst the chaos. (AFP Image) BANGLADESH ARMY'S NOT TO SHOOT DECISION WAS GAMECHANGERWaker-Uz-Zaman was appointed Bangladesh Army Chief in June 2024, when the country was already a relative of Hasina, operated with fairness during the entire agitation, according to multiple then, protests had even started in Defence Officers Housing Society areas in Dhaka. This was unprecedented because military officers were pampered by Hasina and their children brought up in relative affluence."Hasina not only took care of the military with unprecedented largesse, but she also changed the Constitution to deter political intervention by the military, making it a crime of high treason," says lower-rung officers and sepoys, like some of the civilian officials, had by then gone into a civil-disobedience mode. That was a result of news of young relatives falling prey to bullets, sources told India Today August 4, with the Hasina government finding itself embattled with millions ready for the long March to Dhaka a day later, a shoot-at-sight curfew was in a meeting with the top Army commanders on August 4, decided that his force would not shoot at protesters. This, and the reports of military officers unwilling to act against protesters earlier, boosted the confidence of the of thousands started pouring into Dhaka at daybreak on August 5. That is when General Zaman visited Hasina and asked her to board the military helicopter and save her life."Ultimately the military had to force her collapse, mostly because the sheer number of people on Dhaka's streets with bricks and sticks were simply multiple folds of the count of ammunition the security establishment had at their disposal," says only did the army take a hands-off approach, some lower-ranking military personnel were also looking at options to bring down the regime if Hasina lasted beyond August 5."A military official told me he considered resigning and arming civilians for urban guerrilla warfare if Hasina had not fled on August 5," says activist-writer Salam, adding, "This tells you this was a civil war situation." Students chanted anti-Hasina slogans near Dhaka University after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee. (AFP Image) HASINA'S BANGLADESH EXIT NOT JUST DUE TO STUDENTS AGITATIONThough students were the ones who started the fire, but it became an inferno because political parties and Islamist organisations added their muscle to the in morgue and those injured reveal the extent to which political and religious outfits participated in the street cheers that greeted the army and personnel flashing the victory sign also reveal that the military ensured a transfer of power in what can be interpreted as a coup-de-lite, albeit in the face of a massive people's movement."Hasina's regime collapsed because, towards the end, it became fashionable for all segments of Bangladeshi society to resist her, which includes laypersons, the political class, the military and even her cronies, who, towards the end, played their cards in such a way that the regime collapsed," sums up Rabbee.- EndsMust Watch
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
'Can there be Bharat without Bangla?': Mamata warns against insulting Bengali language
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that no one should try to play with or insult the Bengali language, asking whether there can be an India without West Bengal. Banerjee pointed to Bengali litterateurs Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote the national anthem, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who penned the national song of India. "Nobody should try to play with our language or insult it," she said, asking, "Can there be Bharat without Bangla?" The TMC supremo's remark comes amid her strong criticism of the BJP over alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in various BJP-ruled states, as well as a recent Delhi Police order referring to the Bengali language as the "Bangladeshi national language." Pointing to the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Banerjee said on Tuesday that he taught all to live in harmony. "I believe in Ramakrishna Paramahansa's teaching of harmony of all religions," she said, after laying the foundation stone of a guest house of Ramakrishna Math and Mission at Kamarpukur in Hooghly district. "There is no division among us, we have learnt from Ramakrishna Paramahansa to live together with everyone," she said. Stating that Swami Vivekananda had taught that 'unity is strength', Banerjee said that his mother tongue was Bengali language, just as it was of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose or Raja Rammohan Roy. "Dharma is to treat other religions with love and respect," she said. Urging all to read Ramakrishna Paramahansa's 'Kathamrita', Banerjee said that people call water by different names, but it is the same. "Likewise, mother is called by different names, but she is the same," she said, before embarking on a visit to flood-hit Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district. Banerjee also declared the formation of Jairambati-Kamarpukur Development Board, with Swami Lokottarananda, the secretary of the Ramakrishna Math, Kamarpukur, as its chairman. On Sunday, the TMC supremo lashed out at the Delhi Police for referring to the Bengali language as "Bangladeshi national language" in a purported letter, alleging that it was "insulting, anti-national and unconstitutional." "See now how Delhi Police under the direct control of the Ministry of Home, Government of India, is describing Bengali as "Bangladeshi" language!" Banerjee had posted on her Facebook account, sharing a copy of the letter. The TMC supremo described the Centre as anti-Bengali and urged all to stage protests against such "anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate Bengali-speaking people of India."
News18
an hour ago
- News18
No one should try to play with Bengali language: Mamata
Agency: Kamarpukur (WB), Aug 5 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday asserted that no one should try to play with or insult the Bengali language. She also asked whether there can be an India without West Bengal. Banerjee pointed to Bengali litterateurs Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote the national anthem, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who penned the national song of India. 'Nobody should try to play with our language or insult it," she said, asking, 'Can there be Bharat without Bangla?" Pointing to the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, she said that he taught all to live in harmony. 'I believe in Ramakrishna Paramahansa's teaching of harmony of all religions," Banerjee said, after laying the foundation stone of a guest house of Ramakrishna Math and Mission at Kamarpukur in Hooghly district. 'There is no division among us, we have learnt from Ramakrishna Paramahansa to live together with everyone," she said. Stating that Swami Vivekananda had taught that 'unity is strength', Banerjee said that his mother tongue was Bengali language, just as it was of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose or Raja Rammohan Roy. 'Dharma is to treat other religions with love and respect," she said. 'Likewise, mother is called by different names, but she is the same," she said, before embarking on a visit to flood-hit Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district. Banerjee also declared the formation of Jairambati-Kamarpukur Development Board, with Swami Lokottarananda, the secretary of the Ramakrishna Math, Kamarpukur, as its chairman. PTI AMR ACD view comments First Published: August 05, 2025, 16:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
