Political killings in South Asia have always been a result of a sinister motive, and such episodes in Pakistan and Bangladesh have been marked with bigger intentions of creating regional instability. The recent killing of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a prominent leader of Bangladesh’s student uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year and the widespread protests and rampage that followed were aimed at damaging symbols of secularism and creating mayhem that would force the interim administration to postpone elections.
The exercise may have been well planned and orchestrated by Pakistan and its collaborators in Bangladesh to ensure that the interim regime backed by radical students continues to remain in power even if it is illegitimate.
The slogans raised on December 18 and December 19 in Dhaka and the nature of the attacks were no different from the ones that were carried out in August 2024 after Hasina was forced to resign. The actions had uncanny similarities with actions undertaken by Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971.
The clear target for this radical outfit is the secular population in Bangladesh, which is higher in numbers but scared to publicly take on the extremists.
Ethos Of Bangladesh
The very ethos of Bangladesh is pluralism, and the radicals fear that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP, may have a new avatar post the election. The Jamaat-e-Islami is apprehensive as the BNP, in recent times, has been vocal about the outfit’s atrocities in 1971 and appears to be taking a rather centrist position.
The radicals are apprehensive that the BNP may be able to sway some votes of the Awami League and form a government without the pro-Pak Jamaat-e-Islami, unlike the past. This apprehension probably led to this sinister design to create an environment of fear, shift the blame to India and whip up nationalism.
The killing of Hadi was carried out against the backdrop of growing lawlessness being witnessed under the interim regime. There have been 281 killings and 7,698 injuries in political clashes between August 2024 and September 2025. Besides, there have been mass arrests and arbitrary detention of leaders — 12,231 political activists were arrested in February 2025 alone.
Until now, 5.19 lakh persons were implicated in 1,586 politically motivated cases.
Growing Attacks
There are growing attacks on minorities and women, reminiscent of the 1971 phase. Over the past year 2,485 acts of violence have been reported against religious and ethnic minorities. As many as 20,691 crimes against children and women have been recorded. Since August 2024, more than 1,120 journalists have been targeted through arrests, intimidation, assault and legal harassment. There have been 40 extrajudicial killings, including 14 in custody due to torture under the interim government.
The regime has used repressive laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Cyber-Security Act to handle cases. A total of 60 cases were filed, while 45 persons have been arrested under these draconian acts.
Communal harmony has been impacted, and Bangladesh’s interim government is bowing to Islamists’ pressure as reflected in the events that unfolded after the murder of Hadi.
There has been a resurgence of Islamist terror. A large number of convicted terrorists have been released. About 2,200 prisoners escaped from jails during the July uprising of 2024. Out of these about 700, including nine militants and 60 others deathrow and life sentence awarded convicts are still fugitives. About 400,000 illegal arms are allegedly available in Bangladesh to be operated by these terrorists. This has led to nostalgia among a section of Bangladeshis that the Sheikh Hasina rule ensured law and order, and citizens did not go to bed empty stomach.
Rising Fundamentalism
The rise of fundamentalism has not only attempted to destroy the ethos that created Bangladesh but also fueled blind anti-Indian sentiments based on the notion that it was New Delhi that gave shelter to Hasina in power and “controlled” Bangladesh – a view which is akin to the ideology of Islamists in Pakistan.
The Islamists hold India responsible for breaking Pakistan and creating Bangladesh. This ideology dominated the masses, which ousted Hasina and once again dominated the discourse in reaction to the killing of Hadi. The arson that followed in August 2024 and the violence that rocked Dhaka since the killing of the youth leader equated Hasina and the Awami League with India. There has also been an attempt to target the Indian diplomatic mission and every cultural institution associated with India.
The interim regime, instead of putting to rest anti-India sentiment, fuelled it to stay in power without realising that New Delhi is not just the first responder in any crisis, but India provides medical facilities, shopping opportunities and education facilities to millions of Bangladeshis. The regime and Islamists have also ignored the fact that getting integrated into the Indian economy can only provide benefits without losing any sovereignty whatsoever. The idea of Pakistan was defeated in 1971, and it is in Bangladesh’s own interests to assert its own pluralist identity and focus on economic success to emerge as the next Asian Tiger.
(The writer is a commentator on geopolitics and geoeconomics. Views are personal.)
