Current Affairs, Liberation War, Opinion, Politics, War

Reflecting on Bangladesh’s Independence: Honouring the Past and Addressing Present Challenges

Robi Das 25 March 2025

This article has two parts. The first part describes the black night of March 25, the early morning of March 26 and the declaration of independence by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The second part discusses the importance of the great Independence Day in the present context, the need to recognize the genocide in Bangladesh, and how to spread the true history of Independence Day among future generations.

25 March 2025

People lit candles in front of Saheed Minar. https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/ddwxg5f9s8

Today is March 25, the National Genocide Day and tomorrow is the Great Independence Day of Bangladesh. I begin by respectfully recalling all the martyrs indiscriminately killed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators on the black night of March 25, 1971. I also pay my homage to the martyrs and Beerangonas who sacrificed everything for the independence of Bangladesh. I pay my respects to the great hero of the nation's liberation, the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, without whom we cannot imagine the great liberation war of Bangladesh. Since August 5, last year, a lot has happened in Bangladesh. The country is now gripped by the controversial and violent activities of militant groups, including Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jamaat-e-Islami, AB Party, and other right-wing groups, including the newly formed National Citizens Party (NCP). The hyenas of 1971 have returned, and the ghosts of the Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams, collaborators of the Pakistani occupation forces, are trying

to forcibly establish extreme right-wing religious ideology, undermining the ideals of the great liberation war, democracy, socialism, and secularism. The destruction of Bangabandhu's historic house at Dhanmondi 32 exemplifies this. Bangabandhu's home has been attacked twice, and we lost Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975. Despite our best efforts, we cannot bring back the Father of the Nation, Bangamata, little Russell, Sheikh Kamal, and Sheikh Jamal. However, the house remained until the old neo-Razakar parties destroyed it, fearing that Bangabandhu's voice would declare independence again from house number 32, inspiring brave Bengalis to roar against the defeated power of 1971 and restore the ideals of the great liberation war. The article has two parts. The first part describes the black night of March 25, the early morning of March 26 and the declaration of independence by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The second part discusses the importance of the great Independence Day…

Uncategorised

Justice: An Illusion for the Religious and the Ethnic Minorities of Bangladesh

Robi Das 12 March 2025

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council in its recent Press Release said that 2276 incidents of violence against religious and ethnic minorities have taken place since 4 August 2024. The Yunus government rather than ensuring justice for the victims, they are either denying or downplaying the incidents, which makes justice an illusion for the religious and the ethnic minorities of Bangladesh.

12 March 2025

The religious and ethnic minorities are not safe in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August 2024 (Paul & Das, 2024). Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) recorded 2276 incidents of violence against religious and ethnic minorities from 4 August to February 2025(Minority Watch, 2025). The incidents include murder, rape, sexual assault, torture, abduction, land grabbing, forced resignation and vandalism of places of worship. The mobs under the meticulous design of the present Yunus government and his political allies, e.g. Jamat-e-Islami, Hizb-ut-Tahrir etc. Attacked the ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Apart from the reports of BHBCUC, there are reports that the properties and places of worship belonging to Ahmadiya community were also under attack (Al Hakkam, 7 August 2024). It is further reported that sufism is under attack in Bangladesh and 100s of shrines are destroyed systematically (Chaudhury, 2025). The Hindus in Bangladesh have been attacked from 4 August 2024. Victims said that

shouting allahu akbar and naraye takbir, mobs backed by Islamist fundamentalists, e.g., Jamat, Hizb-ut-Tahrir etc. attacked houses, business establishments and places of worships. The mob used social media, like – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc. to organize these attacks. After 5 August, the Islamist mobs attacked schools and colleges where Hindu teachers are working (The Daily Star, 31 August 2024). Mobs are attacking Hindu teenagers allegedly for making derogatory comments over social media on Islam or Prophet. One of them was Utsav Mondal, a 16-year-old boy of Khulna, who was snatched from a police station when he was in the custody of Police and Army (Times of India, 6 September 2024). Later they lynched them. We do not know where Utsav is now or what happened to him. Hunting Hindu men and children for allegedly making blasphemous comments are continuing (D. Dutta, 2025). The Army killed Hridoy Rabi Das of Karimganj, Kishoreganj on 16 November 2024 since it was alleged that he…

Analysis, Minority Rights, Opinion

Political vs. Religious Motives: Uncovering the Truth Behind Targeted Violence

Robi Das 5 February 2025

Current Yunus government is continuously denying the claims of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) saying that the killings reported by the organisation are political in nature. The government did not find that those persons were killed due to their religious identity. However, while making this claim the government ignored the victim perspective, and the motive behind selecting the victim.

5 February 2025

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), a civil society organisation representing religious and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh, claimed in a press conference on 30 January 2025 that between 21 August and 31 December, 174 incidents of violence against religious minorities occurred in the country. Among these incidents, the organisation reported 23 killings. Soon after, the current Yunus government responded, alleging that BHBCUC was spreading rumours and misinformation, asserting that none of these individuals were killed because of their religious identity but rather due to political rivalry, land disputes, or as victims of general crimes. Sadly, of all possible approaches, that was the government’s first response to the BHBCUC report, without even looking into the claims or investigating them. Such sweeping claims from the current government are not new as we have witnessed numerous times since they took power in August last year. It appears that the government has adopted a ‘deny and discredit first’ policy against any claims

of human rights violations. This is very concerning. Previously, in December, the current Press Secretary (better termed as ‘spokesperson’) made the same assertion as above. Worryingly, such government responses are enabling certain commentators, such as 2 Cents Podcasts, to spread hatred against the Hindu populace of Bangladesh by labelling them as Indian sympathisers or agents. However, this article is not about any specific kinds of activism but rather about the broader question: How does a crime become classified as a political crime or a religion-based crime? The Yunus government has consistently argued, since 8 August 2024, that most crimes committed against religious and ethnic minorities are politically motivated killings—as if killing someone for political reasons is somehow justifiable. Political crimes and crimes committed against individuals due to their religious identity are indeed distinct in their motivations and objectives, though they often overlap. When comparing a person targeted for their political beliefs to one targeted for their religious beliefs, the key…

Journalism, Politics, Review

Investigating Al Jazeera’s ‘investigation’: an open letter to David Bergman

Rayhan Rashid 19 February 2021

Every country, not just Bangladesh, needs a space for introspection on certain fundamental matters. These are, for example, power (and its abuse), influence (and its peddling), civil liberties (and its suppression), privacy (and surveillance), probity, integrity, transparency etc. While conscientious journalism serves as a catalyst for advancement, careless ones hinder it, as the latter kind diverts the very agenda of discourse that the media is supposed to engender.

19 February 2021

In a Facebook post (Feb 4), my brief take on the much talked about Al Jazeera documentary ("All the Prime Minister's Men") was: "It is something that could have been part of an important conversation, but merely ended up being a cheap sensationalisation of some majorly unsubstantiated claims based on heaps of unrelated information, false insinuations, and deliberately omitted contexts." (Link) You wrote to me, asking what I meant by that. Since this relates to a matter that is now subject of public debate, I thought it would make sense to respond in a public thread. I hope you would not object to such a public nature of engagement. First of all, thank you for your willingness to discuss the AJ piece. I hope this will shed some light on some of the whats, whys, and hows of the documentary that many like me are curious about. I have noted your assessment of the documentary in an interview (Link) where

you attested the claims made in the programme as "well substantiated." So, I decided to watch the documentary for a second time just to be sure that we are referring to the same work, and found myself in agreement with you regarding its "sleek production quality" at least. It indeed gives the feel of watching a "thriller", as you rightly described. With regard to its content, however, I wish I could share your glowing verdict. Regrettably, the artistic liberty the makers took so abundantly in its treatment of "facts/evidence", did not quite make up for the journalistic rigour which the documentary generally lacked. Before elaborating why I found this documentary unsubstantiated, let me make a few things clear. I believe, every country, not just Bangladesh, needs a space for introspection on certain fundamental matters. These are, for example, power (and its abuse), influence (and its peddling), civil liberties (and its suppression), privacy (and surveillance), probity, integrity, transparency etc. While conscientious…