Jamaat and Hefazat push radical agenda as Yunus govt struggles to control hardliners

Bangladesh Faces Talibanisation Threat

The regime change in Bangladesh was intended to set the country on a better course. However, under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, key areas such as human rights and women&rsquo;s rights appear to be in steep decline.
Until the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh had been making strides in economic development and enjoyed relative social stability. But Yunus, whom many describe as a puppet of the Jamaat-e-Islami, is said to have walked into Pakistan&rsquo;s trap. Intelligence agencies had earlier warned that the ISI seeks to push Bangladesh back to a pre-1971 scenario.
That prediction is fast unfolding. Women&rsquo;s rights are being disregarded, and minority protections have largely vanished. Radical Islamist groups linked to Jamaat are taking control, with Taliban-style moral policing becoming increasingly visible. Women deemed &ldquo;immodestly dressed&rdquo; are being publicly shamed, and reports have emerged of women being assaulted over attire.
One of the most prominent groups enforcing this ideology is Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI). The group openly declares that men and women cannot be equal and has resisted every attempt to advance women&rsquo;s rights. Its protest marches have specifically targeted reforms proposed by the Women&rsquo;s Affairs Reform Commission.
Among the reforms opposed by HeI are the criminalisation of marital rape, equal rights for women across religion and ethnicity, equal parental rights, inheritance protections, higher parliamentary representation for women, recognition of sex workers&rsquo; rights, and broader empowerment through education and skills training.
HeI has consistently sought to Talibanise Bangladesh by curtailing women&rsquo;s freedoms. Its allegiance to ISI and Jamaat is evident, alongside a vocal anti-India stance. In 2021, HeI supporters clashed with Awami League workers while attempting to stage a protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Protesters sought to wave slippers at Modi, sparking confrontations with Awami League members who tried to stop them.
Indian security agencies note that Hefazat&rsquo;s rise has accelerated since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Once seen as relatively moderate, the group has reverted to radical positions. Although the Yunus government has attempted some reform measures, Jamaat has used HeI as a weapon to block them.
While HeI publicly denies ties with Jamaat, analysts argue its main objective is to derail the International Crimes Tribunal prosecuting war crimes from 1971. The group&rsquo;s behaviour often confuses security agencies. For instance, Maulana Habibur Rehman, a Sylhet madrasa principal and organiser of HeI&rsquo;s 2013 protests, once claimed he met Osama Bin Laden and members of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. Yet, other HeI leaders have condemned Al-Qaeda, insisting such organisations would never succeed in Bangladesh. Experts say this mixed messaging may be a tactic to avoid bans and deflect scrutiny.
Formed in 2010, Hefazat initially mobilised against Sheikh Hasina&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s development policy, which promised equal property rights for women. Now, with Hasina out of power, the group has revived its demands with Jamaat&rsquo;s full backing and influence within the ruling dispensation.
With radical hardliners resurging and the Yunus administration unable to contain them, Bangladesh faces the grave risk of sliding into a Taliban-style regime. [Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed]

4 સપ્ટેમ્બર, 2025 | 20:06 IST

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