Vice President of the Islamist organisation Hefazat-e-Islam (protector of Islam) Bangladesh, Muhyiddin Rabbani, recently stoked controversy when he argued that the nation should adopt Islamic law as opposed to its current legal and constitutional structure, a long-standing objective of the outfit. Notably, the country has grappled with violent anti-quota protests followed by multiple targeted attacks on minority communities and their religious places, especially Hindus by extremist forces after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on 5th August. Rabbani made it explicit that they intended to create an Islamic state in Bangladesh. According to him, an Islamic government would safeguard Islam and its precepts while also bringing justice to the populace.
Rabbani highlighted that Pakistan was formed in the name of Islam, insinuating that Bangladesh was earlier a part of the country before it gained independence in 1971.
“Islam was the basis of the creation of Pakistan. Pakistan was created for Islamic rule. We are Muslims and the majority in Bangladesh. We want this country should adhere to Islam and our demand is which is genuine. When we gained freedom, Muslims claimed that this country would be governed by Islam and we continue to seek the same. Islam even considers the rights of non-Muslims which is not the case in any other religion.” However, the miserable condition of minorities, particularly Hindus in the neighbouring Islamic states of India proves otherwise. He also alleged that no one was persecuted in the days of Prophet Muhammad.
When countered with reports of assaults on Hindus, their properties and temples in several parts of Bangladesh since 5th August, he claimed that the outfit appealed to the politicians to protect the temples and churches in the country. Raabbani who studied in India’s Deoband, in a further demonstration of the maximalist ideology of the group, referred to the Ahmadiyya community as Kufar or Kafir (infidels), akin to demands of radical outfits in Pakistan. He declared, “We do not consider Ahmadis as Muslims. They are infidels,” as he reiterated that Hefazat-e-Islam wants Bangladesh to remain a part of the Islamic system. He even had a message for Indian Muslims urging them to live peacefully with Hindus, “The message to Muslims in India is that you are our neighbours. You are our sincere brothers. Live in harmony with Hindus as we live in Bangladesh,” he claimed, to downplay the oppression of Hindus by jihadis in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, he insisted that India is already ruled by Hindus when he was asked if the same principles (religion of the majority population should govern the country) should be applied to India as well given its majority Hindu population. Rabbani defended himself and stated that it was acceptable when it was argued that the Constitution, not any particular religion, governs India. He added that the majority should rule the nation, according to Islam and emphasised that although there are various nations, there is only one Allah.
He clarified that there will be no place for music or arts in the country under Islamic rule, “If Islamic law is implemented, everyone will have rights in the form of justice. We shall base our decisions about music on what is permissible in Islam. We don’t like art or music. We will oppose it. I’ll strongly speak against it.” He once again voiced that matters including the Hijab would be subjected to consideration under the Sharia after the country executes Islamic Law.
The outfit even wants statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, and other prominent figures to be taken down. Rabbani conveyed, “We will request that the statues built across the country be demolished.” He claimed that while idols in Hindu temples should be preserved, statues of political personalities, especially those associated with the nation’s secular origins, should be demolished. Interestingly, the stance finds resonance with the Taliban, who demolished the Buddhas of Bamiyan to illustrate their aversion to shirk. Shirk in Islam is a sin often roughly translated as idolatry, polytheism or association (with God).
Rabbani denied any intention to split off areas of West Bengal and Myanmar to establish Greater Bangladesh. He termed Pakistan’s treatment of Bangladeshis as cruel and asserted that Hefazat-e-Islam believes that the same won’t happen again if Islamic Law is enforced in the country. “The government is still new. Their work has not even started yet. We have to see for a while. We hope they will deliver justice and form an elected government after the elections,” he expressed about the interim government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. He also pointed out that the organisation won’t participate in the electoral process.
He contended that the unrest in the country was due to the student protests and not an Islamic revolution. He claimed that the group doesn’t endorse Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, however, mentioned, “Jamaat is a political party. We do not do politics. I cannot say anything about them. We do not support Jamaat. As a citizen of Bangladesh, I say that banning someone is taking away his constitutional rights.”
Violence during PM Modi’s 2021 Bangladesh visit
On 26th March, the day of Bangladesh’s independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Dhaka for a two-day visit. The centennial of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina and the founder of the nation, also fell on the same day. Leaders of Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were among the honoured guests during the function. However, 26th of March witnessed a protest by a group of Muslims at a city mosque following Friday prayers. Police deployed tear gas and used batons to scatter the gathering as soon as conflicts broke out. Afterwards, protests expanded to other regions of the nation, and on 28th March, Hefazat-e-Islam called for a statewide shutdown in retaliation for the attacks on people staging demonstrations against the Indian Prime minister’s arrival.
The agitators threw rocks and stones at security personnel. Meanwhile, hundreds of Hefazat-e-Islam members stormed a train and Hindu temples in eastern Bangladesh. Thousands of Islamist activists marched down streets across the country as several government buildings, including the land office and a government-sponsored music institution, were set on fire. Many Hindu temples were also targeted. Numerous people were hurt in Narayanganj, a neighbourhood just outside of Dhaka when protesters blocked roads with electric poles, wood and sandbags as authorities responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. In addition to blocking multiple roads, protestors in Dhaka set fire to and vandalized a few buses. The protest was against the alleged mistreatment of minorities, especially Muslims under PM Modi’s government which led to the deaths of at least 12 people.
Thousands of supporters of Hefazat-e-Islam stormed a Hindu village in Shalla upazila of Sunamgan district, the same year after a Hindu man shared a social media post criticizing the group’s joint-secretary general, Mawlana Mufti Mamunul, for his speech. A young Hindu man from Noagaon allegedly posted a critical Facebook post about Mamunul, who objected to Bangabandhu’s sculpture following the attack by extremists brandishing makeshift weapons. The outfit’s members from the Muslim-populated villages of Kashipur, Nachni, Chandipur and other nearby areas assembled in Noagaon hamlet and attacked the houses of the local Hindus after which 70-80 houses were damaged. Many local Hindus fled their homes to save themselves as the assailants entered the village, ransacked and looted many houses.
Hefazat-e-Islam’s Islamist roots
Hefazat-e-Islam, the largest Islamic organisation in Bangladesh was founded in 2010 in Chittagong by Shah Ahmad Shafi to protect Islam against purported anti-Islamic laws and end secularism. It soon became the centre of religious politics and radicalisation in Bangladesh. It is reportedly financed by doctrinaire Islamists in Saudi Arabia. The 2009 Women Development Policy draft, which suggested granting women equal inheritance rights, served as the impetus for the group’s formation which consists of Sunni zealots and their large network of madrasa supporters. The leaders of Hefazat-e-Islam have actively called for political and legal reforms despite the organization not being a political party. It demanded a revolution and the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Sharia Law in Bangladesh, openly opposing the country’s secular legal system.
Hefazat-e-Islam laid siege in Dhaka and proposed a 13-point plan in 2013, which included capital punishment for comments against Allah, Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, gender segregation, the release of Islamic scholars who were imprisoned and compulsory Islamic education from primary to higher secondary levels, among others. The government was compelled to surrender because of the group’s immense popularity.
Hefazat-e-Islam’s demands which even went so far as to arrest a few secular activists on the pretext that they were engaged in “anti-Islamic” activity have been met by the government. Dhaka ordered the removal of 17 poetry and stories by secular and non-Muslim authors from Bengali textbooks in 2017 and removed the Lady Justice statue from the Supreme Court the same year, in response to their demand. The next year, a bill was enacted by the government recognizing Dawra-e-Hadith, a prestigious madrassa under the authority of Hefazat-e-Islam, as having the same academic standing as a master’s degree in Islamic studies.
Shah Ahmad Shafi, the former head of Hafazat-e-Islam, was close to the Sheikh Hasina government, however, a more conservative group led by Junaid Babunagari took over the group after he died in 2020 after which the faction severed ties with the government through unofficial channels. The outfit often slammed Sheikh Hasina for her secular polity and demanded the implementation of Sharia Law in the country. The group claims to work to safeguard and propagate Islam, the Quran and the Hadith around the world. However, it is notorious for assaults on the minority communities including, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and even Ahmadiyya (or Qadiani).
The group’s position on monuments and statues is among the most contentious parts of its aspects. It successfully campaigned in 2017 to have a statue of the Greek goddess Themis wearing a sari removed from the Supreme Court grounds because it hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. The current leader of Hefajat-e-Islam, Amir Junayed Babunagari, reportedly has close ties to Pakistan ISI and Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also instrumental in the 2013 Dhaka siege. He got accepted at Pakistan’s Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia at the age of twenty and studied there for four years including at Darululoom Karachi.
Bangladesh is currently under growing pressure from outfits like Hefazat-e-Islam that want to change the country’s identity. The rising gap between secular and religious forces in Bangladesh is reflected in the increasing recognition of Islam among its predominantly Muslim populace. Hefazat-e-Islam envisions a Bangladesh where justice is carried out under Islamic principles and Sharia Law is supreme which relegates non-Muslims to the status of second-class citizens and at the mercy of Muslim fundamentalists.
Despite Rabbani’s assertion that the organisation’s ultimate goal is to guarantee justice for everyone, including religious minorities, the group’s history, actions and discourse point to a dramatic departure from secular principles. Importantly, Bangladesh’s political landscape is rapidly shifting as groups including Hefazat-e-Islam promote a more religiously controlled country while the survival of Hindus and other minorities remains a grave concern as they are hunted down by radicals in the country.
