Bangladesh is witnessing a drastic rise in vigilante Muslim mobs, unleashing violence under the pretext of protecting the tenets of Islam. These mobs are largely unorganised but they call themselves ‘Tawhidi Janata (meaning Revolutionary People).’
They have come under the spotlight over recent acts of vandalism and harassment of people. The development comes at a time when the interim government in Bangladesh, led by Muhammad Yunus, is pandering to Islamists.
While Yunus has not directly recommended these Muslim mobs to run rampage, he has strategically remained tight-lipped on their activities.
His regime has released Islamic hardliners and convicted terrorists and tried to downplay attacks on Hindu minorities as ‘fake‘, ‘exaggerated‘ or ‘politically motivated‘.
Violence unleashed by Tawhidi Janata during the reign of Sheikh Hasina
These violent Muslim groups, functioning under the banner of ‘Tawhidi Janata’ have been around since atleast 2013. They would sporadically target those who they believe worked against the interests of Islam during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina.
Hindu minorities frequently became the target of ‘Tawhidi Janata’. In October 2019, a frenzied mob of Muslims carried out violence in Borhanuddin upazila in Bhola district of Bangladesh after accusing a Hindu boy of committing ‘blasphemy’ on Facebook.
They set a house belonging to the Hindu community on fire and vandalised 12 others. ‘Tawhidi Janata’ also clashed with the law enforcement authorities, resulting in 4 deaths.
This was despite the fact that the Hindu victim’s Facebook account, which supposedly posted blasphemous content, was hacked by two Muslims named Sharif and Emon.
2 years later in October 2021, ‘Tawhidi Janata’ was involved in pelting stones at a Hindu temple and carrying out vandalism in Chandpur district of Bangladesh.
The attack was carried out to ‘avenge’ desecration of the Quran, which was also interestingly executed by a Muslim man named Iqbal Hossain.
‘Tawhidi Janata’ also carried out attacks on the Lama Central Hari Mondir in Bangladesh’s Bandarban upazila. They also destroyed shops belonging to the Hindu community.
Tawhidi Janata gains strength after interim govt comes to power
Following the undemocratic ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, violent Muslim mobs operating under the banner of ‘Tawhidi Janta’ have become bolstered.
On 28th January this year, ‘a Muslim mob ‘Tawhidi Janata’ laid siege to the Tilakpur High School in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh. The extremists, comprising madrassa students, carried out vandalism to protest against a friendly football match between two women’s teams.
The match was scheduled to take place on 29th January 2025 at the playground of the Tilakpur High School between the Joypurhat and Rangpur women’s football teams.
In visuals that have surfaced on social media, the Muslim mob could be seen vandalising the tin fence of the school. Prior to carrying out the attack, they gathered outside the Tilakpur railway station and gave provocative speeches.
The mob demanded the cancellation of the women’s football match, alleging non-observance of purdah. Thereafter, the extremists made their way to the Tilakpur High School and unleashed mayhem.
A radical Muslim declared, “I want to warn those who want to earn money by exposing our women. Be careful. Stop all women’s games in the future. If you don’t stop, then we will show our resistance.”
In the meantime, the Akkelpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Anisur Rahman and the Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Manjurul Alam claimed to have no knowledge about the incident.
‘Tawhidi Janata’ vandalised shops for selling flowers on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. The incident occurred on 14th February in Bhuapur Upazila in Tangail district of Bangladesh.
One of the shops targeted by the mob includes ‘Mama Gift Corner’, which is located close to the Bhuapur police station. The radical Muslims attacked the store and threw the flowers on the street.
The shop belonged to a man named Alam, who had been selling flowers at the same location for a long time. He informed that the mob told him that selling flowers on Valentine’s Day was a crime.
Alam said that another shop (identified as Nirbili Food Corner) was similarly attacked a day earlier on 13th February 2025. ‘Tawhidi Janata’ held demonstrations outside the eatery and held ‘anti-love’ protests.
They raised slogans, threatening couples with physical harm for public display of affection. The owner of Nirbili Food Corner, Asad Khan, had to shut down his shop following the incident.
Due to the chaos and fear perpetrated by the Muslim mob, a ‘Spring festival’ which was scheduled to be held in Bhuapur on Saturday 15th February was also postponed.
Conclusion
OpIndia spoke to renowned Bangladesh journalist Salahuddin Shoaib about the matter. He pointed out, “This is not an organisation. Instead, Tawhidi Janata is purely a terminology used by opportunists in the society for creating anarchy or even posing a threat to national security.”
“Inventors of this terminology belong to Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis as well as inhabitants of the older part of Dhaka city and other cities in the world, who mostly were supporters of Muslim League who opposed Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971,” he told us.
Salahuddin Shoaib further revealed, “For the recent months, Pakistani agencies are providing funds to these people in continuing notoriety using the “umbrella” of Tawhidi Janata.”
Following public ire over the recent activities of the violent Muslim groups, Islamist Mahufz Alam issued a ‘token condemnation’.
“As a devout Muslim myself, I am a monotheist. However, when extremism is shown in the name of Tawhid, it is my duty as a responsible person to warn about the impending consequences,” he said in a statement in February 2025.
He was careful enough to not upset radical Muslims, who constitute a large part of his supporter base. For the unversed, Mahfuz Alam is an ‘adviser’ to the interim government of Bangladesh.
The anti-India propagandist had previously served as a ‘special assistant’ to Muhammad Yunus. Interestingly, Yunus had described the same man as the ‘brain’ behind the campaign to remove Sheikh Hasina from power in August 2024.
In the absence of any firm adminsitrative action against Tawhidi Janata, the orgy of violence, vandalism and harassment to protect Islam is likely to continue unabated in forseeable future.
