Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus's interim administration apparently plans to turn Bangladesh into an Islamist Republic. The country's Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman has said that the word "secular" should be removed from the nation's Constitution since "90% of the population is Muslim".
Asaduzzaman came up with this argument during a court hearing on the legality of the 15th Amendment, which was passed during the ousted Awami League's tenure in power and which guarantees Bangladeshis freedom to practise their religions. That amendment partly did not undo the status of Islam as state religion enforced in 1988 during the military rule of General H M Ershad, who was later ousted by a popular agitation, but it gave religious minorities freedom to practise their religion.
"Earlier, there was constant trust and faith in Allah. I want it the way it was before. It is said in Article 2A that the state shall ensure equal rights and equality in the practice of all religions. Article 9 talks about 'Bengali nationalism'. It is contradictory," Asaduzzaman argued during the court hearing.
Since he is the chief law officer of the interim government, his pitch in court would not be possible without green light from chief advisor Muhammed Yunus, whose liberal image abroad is clearly in contradiction to ground realities in Bangladesh since the ouster of the Awami League government.
Pogroms Against Hindus, Buddhists
Someone in Bangladesh claiming to be an "Islamic Joddha" (Islamic Fighter) forwarded a Facebook post by Islamic Chatra Shibir (student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami) that claimed killing seven Hindus in the recent violence rocking the country's port city of Chittagong last week. The post claims, "teaching Hindus in Chittagong the lesson they deserved because they had become too bold." It also called on all to support our 'Muslim army' which, it says, has got 200 Hindus arrested to be "taught the right lesson."
The attacks on a Hindu locality in Chittagong followed protests by Hindus in the city over a Facebook post by a local Muslim youth seeking a ban on ISKCON. During the protests, police and army mercilessly attacked Hindus, alleged local community leaders.
Buddhist tribespeople in the Chittagong Hill Tracts faced similar attacks during a military crackdown following some clashes between them and Muslim settlers last month. A few tribespeople were killed during what community leaders described as "unprovoked firings."
Indian, US reactions
India has strongly urged Bangladesh's interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus to take steps to stop violence against Hindus and other minorities.
"We have observed that there have been attacks on the Hindu community in Chittagong. Their properties have been looted, their business establishments have been looted. These happened following incendiary posts on social media targeting Hindu religious organisations," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Interestingly just before he won the US Presidential Election, Donald Trump lashed out at growing violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
"I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump's choice to head National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has also lashed out at "atrocities against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh." In a video of hers widely circulating in the social media, Gabbard described these atrocities as "a continuation of the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistani rulers."
Gabbard is a practicing Hindu known for her close relations with India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Yunus administration has so far dismissed Indian concerns over growing attacks on minorities as "highly exaggerated," but with Trump all set to take charge, it can no longer be in self denial over the total lawlessness and anarchy prevailing in Bangladesh.
Yunus promised rule of law when he took charge of the interim administration, for which there is no provision in the Bangladesh constitution, but which was apparently justified by the 'Doctrine of Necessity' that has often been used to justify military takeovers in Pakistan.
Bangladesh's Growing Mobocracy
Since the installation of the interim government and the dissolution of the parliament which the erstwhile Awami League has described as "illegal", a culture of mobocracy seems to have taken root. All high level functionaries who could not be ousted legally, have been forced to resign by mobs led by student leaders who brought down the government of Sheikh Hasina.
All Vice Chacellors, Pro-VCs, even Treasurers in 50 universities of the country have been forced to resign by violent mobs led by the student leaders who have owned up to close links to radical groups like the Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Islami Chatra Shibir.
According to media reports, 175 School Headmasters have been forced to resign. Many of them were Hindus and quite a few of them were women. The mobs subjected them to visible humiliation.
All Supreme Court judges and many High Court judges including the Chief Justice and Attorney General were forcibly removed by similar mob action, as well as 33 permanent secretaries and 11 ambassdors have bern arbitrarily removed, much before end of their tenure.
Nearly 300 secretaries and Additional secretaries and many more Joint Secretaries, a few hundred police commissioners downward, and Joint secretaries have been appointed without any due process. There has been a wholesale reshuffle in banks and other top financial institutions, mostly on an arbitrary basis.
Most of those ousted were seen as close to the Awami League and many of those now installed are known to be close to Islamist radical groups.
NHRC resignations
Last week, all members of Bangladesh's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) resigned shortly after releasing a report on rising mob violence. The NHRC, chaired by Kamal Uddin Ahmed, along with members Md Salim Reza, Aminul Islam, Kongjari Chowdhury, Biswajit Chanda, and Tania Haque, submitted resignation letters to the president.
The NHRC resignations came just days after the release of a report detailing a sharp rise in mob violence and crimes such as beatings, rapes, and political harassment in October. The report also exposed violent attacks on political figures, contributing to growing concerns about human rights and safety in Bangladesh. The NHRC spokesperson, Yusha Rahman, confirmed the resignations but could not specify the underlying cause.
The political and communal unrest intensified following Hasina's exit, worsening the nation's human rights scenario. The NHRC's report, which underscored these escalating crimes and unrest, appears to have amplified the gravity of the situation, possibly prompting the commission members to step down. The increasing violence and political instability continue to shape the national landscape, posing significant challenges for the interim government.
Ridiculous Cases
Yunus' promised Rule of Law has been characterised by pursuit of vendetta as state policy. Nearly 200 cases, mostly with charges of murder, have been filed involving over 200,000 Awami Leaders and activists. Some of them, like the murder case against top cricket icon Shakib Al Hasan and lawyer Z.I Khan Panna, are downright frivolous. Shakib, an Awami League lawmaker, was away playing cricket in Canada at the time of the crackdown on student protestors when the murder he is accused of happened. Panna supported the student protests but fell foul with them for criticising their subsequent conduct after establishment of the Interim government. The height of irony is thst the complainant in the murder case accusing Panna does not know the lawyer and has gone on record to say so. The whole idea is to harass, intimidate and humiliate anyone opposing the mobocracy.
Media censorship is enforced by a culture of terror and threat and many journalists and editors have been framed in cases with murder charges.
Already, even leading western publications like "Time" are suggesting a change of national mood with many saying "Hasina's times were much better." Owner of two small shops, Hasina Jahan pandered to this feeling with her own story.
"During Hasina's rule, we paid a monthly subscription of few hundred rupees a month to her partymen. Now both my shops have been looted and I am ruined. I am surviving by giving tuition to school students and my sister is making a few bucks by escorting toddlers from well-off families to school," Hasina told the Federal.
"We don't judge rulers by their politics but by our own experience. See the uncontrollable price rise now," she stressed to point to Yunus' biggest failure -- control the price of essential commodities like foodstuff.
The student leaders and the Islamist radical groups they hail from have periodically taken to the streets to demand resignation of President Shahabuddin Chuppu. Some of them have even called for removal of army chief General Waqar-u-Zaman. Recently one of the newly appointed advisor Mahfuz Alam pulled down the portrait of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Banga Bhavan, seat of the Bangladesh presidency.
Alam, described as the "mastermind" of the agitation that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster, has been a hardliner from the radical Islamist group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir. He was first inducted as Yunus' personal assistant and then upgraded to a full fledged advisor.
But now the student leaders appear to be upset with some of the newly appointed advisors like film Director Mostafa Sarwar Farooqi whose wife Tisha acted in the Mujibur Rahman biopic. Finally the contradictions within the Interim government is beginning to surface.
Army to get more powers
Amidst the raging chaos, it is reliably learnt that the "magistracy powers" given to the Army for two months will be extended. Even the borderguards and coastguards will now be given these powers. This enables the military and paramilitary units to arrest anybody on mere suspicion of their involvement with efforts to disturb law and order.
Analysts see this as an attempt by Yunus and his coterie to stay in power by avoiding early elections, which has been demanded by the country's leading political parties, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the ousted Awami League. The BNP, which was initially pleased with the Awami League's ouster, has now threatened to hit streets unless elections are announced. The Awami League has already resumed agitations for 'restoration of democracy.' The interim government clearly cannot manage to handle the street agitation of the top parties without the brazen use of the military and paramilitary forces, which are crucial to back up the Islamist radicals under cover of student mobs for the battle of the streets in Bangladesh.