RUTHFULLY YOURS

Days after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country amidst protests led by Jamaat-e-Islami, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Hizb ut-Tahrir, Hefazat-e-Islam, and other Islamist forces, all charges against Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT)—later rebranded as Ansar Al Islam—were dropped. Rahmani, along with dozens of imprisoned Islamists and jihadists, was released. Shortly after his release, Rahmani appeared in a viral video, calling on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “free Bengal from Modi’s rule and declare its independence.”

In December 2021, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, through its Rewards for Justice (RFJ) office, announced a $5 million reward for information on the terrorist attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which resulted in the death of a U.S. citizen, Avijit Roy, and the serious injury of his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed. Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), led by Jashimuddin Rahmani, claimed responsibility for the attack. Strangely, after the release of this terrorist leader, U.S. authorities did not issue any statement.

Immediately after the ousting of Sheikh Hasina, the so-called protesters, led by Muhammad Yunus, chosen to lead Bangladesh’s interim government, and all openly supported by the Biden-Harris administration and the Clintons, launched violent attacks on Hindus. These attacks included murder, rape, abduction, the destruction of temples, and the vandalization of idols. As the Yunus administration has been systematically denying freedom of expression, local journalists and international human rights groups remained silent. Predictably, journalists who raise their voices are arrested and later implicated in murder cases. Local reporters are under constant surveillance by the cyber wings of Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and security agencies like the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and National Security Intelligence (NSI).

Meanwhile, Islamist and jihadist student protesters under Yunus’s leadership have established an alternative government in the country, reminiscent of Iran’s private militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC. Dozens of individuals, including Hindus, are falling victim to mob justice, while the perpetrators of these gruesome crimes enjoy impunity.

Islamists are also staging public demonstrations in Dhaka with the intent to obstruct Hindus from celebrating the upcoming festival of Durga Puja. State machinery, including security agencies, is granting patronage to these anti-Hindu activities.

Notably, Muhammad Yunus is one of the major donors to the Clinton Foundation. According to a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in 2007, Hillary Clinton made frantic efforts and exerted pressure on the Bangladesh Army to appoint her friend Yunus as head of the then military-backed interim government.

Since Yunus enjoys the full support of the Biden-Harris administration, as well as Democratic Party leaders such as former President Barack Obama, former US President William Jefferson Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not one of the rights groups, including Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, has issued a statement condemning the attacks, rapes and murders in Bangladesh.

On September 26, 2024, during his U.S. visit to attend the UN General Assembly, Muhammad Yunus was honored at a reception by the Clinton Global Initiative, an event also attended by Bill Clinton. During the event, Bill Clinton praised Mahfuz Alam, a leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, who led the Islamist uprising in Bangladesh.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an anti-democratic Islamist organization that advocates for the establishment of a caliphate. It is banned in Bangladesh and several other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

The rise of Islamist forces and the increasing influence of figures such as Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh, coupled with the tacit support of powerful international actors, signals a dangerous shift in the country’s political landscape. As extremist groups grow bolder, religious minorities, particularly Hindus, are bearing the brunt of the violence, while global powers remain disturbingly silent.

With the Biden administration and influential figures such as the Clintons seemingly turning a blind eye, the question arises: will Bangladesh’s descent into radicalism continue unchecked, or will the international community finally confront the growing Talibanization threatening the stability of the region??

Keya Mukherjee is a freelance journalist specializing in Asian and global affairs.