Dhaka’s political landscape is simmering with tension as former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launches a scathing attack on Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. In an exclusive interview, Hasina accused the administration of giving free rein to radical groups, allowing them to perpetrate unchecked violence against non-Muslims, particularly Hindus.
Hasina, who leads the Bangladesh Awami League, did not mince words. ‘The responsibility lies with those currently in power who have failed in their most basic duty: ensuring equal protection for all citizens,’ she stated. She pointed out that the surge in minority-targeted violence is no accident but a direct consequence of an unelected government’s tolerance—or even encouragement—of communal clashes. Radical outfits, she claimed, operate with impunity, facing no repercussions for their actions.
Bangladesh was founded as a secular republic, a beacon where people of all faiths could coexist without fear. Today, that vision is under siege. Peaceful Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, and other minorities are being systematically targeted. This grim reality, Hasina argued, stems from the government’s failure and its political appeasement of extremist forces.
The statistics are alarming. Under Yunus’s watch, attacks on minorities have escalated dramatically. Just this week, shocking incidents have rocked communities across the nation. On Tuesday, in Mohadevpur upazila of Naogaon district, 25-year-old Mithun Sarkar jumped into a canal to escape a mob accusing him of theft. Tragically, he drowned—a heartbreaking loss that marks the seventh such death in 19 days and the third this week alone.
Monday brought more horror. In Narsingdi district near Dhaka, 40-year-old Sarat Chakravarty Mani was hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants wielding sharp weapons. In Jessore’s Monirampur, businessman Rana Pratap Bairagi, 38, was shot dead in broad daylight. Saturday saw Khokan Chandra Das brutally beaten to death by a mob in Shariatpur’s Damudya upazila. Earlier, in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka, Bajendra Biswas, 40, was gunned down by an associate. On December 24, Amrit Mandal, 29, was lynched in Kalimohar. And on December 18, Dipu Chandra Das, 25, was beaten, hanged from a tree, and set ablaze over false blasphemy charges.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reports 2,442 attacks on minorities and over 150 temple vandalisms since August 2024. As Hasina’s voice rises from exile, the question looms: Will Yunus’s government act to restore order, or will Bangladesh’s secular fabric unravel further?