The rate of persecution against dissenters and minorities has increased in Bangladesh since August 5 2024. Between 5 and 8 August, it was the Islamic terrorists and fundamentalists with the support of right-wing political forces, e.g. Jamat-e-Islami, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Hefazat-e-Islam etc., who targeted dissenters and minorities all over Bangladesh. After August 8, the interim government also joined the band and weaponized law enforcing agencies and judiciary to arrest more than a hundred thousand dissenters in thousands of baseless cases citing murder, torture, blasphemy and sedition charges. The current Yunus government’s primary targets are authors, filmmakers, journalists, lawyers, activists, secularists, human rights defenders and pro-liberation people. These people have dissented from the ideology of the anti-liberation and pro-Islamist right-wing forces, which the Yunus government is promoting now.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council is one of the few human rights organizations that raised the red flag regarding the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in the name of attacking political opponents. Advocate Rana Das Gupta, a human rights defender and General Secretary of the organization, stated in a press release dated September 19, 2024, that nearly 2010 violent incidents took place targeting religious and ethnic minorities between August 4 and August 20. However, the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) reported that the real numbers are much higher and remain unreported (HRCBM, 2024). The government denied these numbers, and without proper investigation, they claim these reports are baseless. After the first report, Das Gupta found that he was named as accused in three (3) cases on baseless murder charges.
Advocate Gupta was not the only one. Chinmoy Krishna Das, a monk of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also raised his voice against the minority persecution. He demanded the immediate establishment of the Minority Rights Commission, the Ministry for Minority Affairs, the enactment of the Protection of Minority Act, etc. He was critical of the government’s denial of ongoing persecution and their failure to arrest the perpetrators. The government finally arrested him on November 25, 2024, on a baseless sedition charge. (The Hindustan Times, November 2024) Till today, he is in prison.
The Yunus government arrested Shahriar Kabir, an author and filmmaker, on September 17, 2024. (BD News 24, September 2024) Kabir was vocal against pro-Pakistani, anti-liberation right-wing Islamist political parties and for more than three decades, he was running a movement to ensure the trial of the perpetrators who committed international crimes during the 1971 Liberation War. Following his arrest, the interim government is releasing Islamist terrorists one after another, which has played a significant role in increasing the crime rate in Bangladesh.
The Yunus government has also arrested Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, a former Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. (The Daily Star, August 2024b) Justice Chowdhury was vocal against Islamist terrorism and the rise of right-wing politics in Bangladesh.
The government arrested twenty-two (22) journalists to date and did not investigate the killings of eight (8) journalists. On September 15, 2024, they arrested Shyamal Dutta, editor of the Bhorer Kagoj and the National Press Club president. Mozammel Babu, a renowned journalist and Managing Director of the Ekattor TV Network, was arrested on the same day. (The Wire, September 2024)
The interim government arrested an investigative journalist and news presenter of Ekattor TV, Farzana Rupa, along with her husband, Shakil Ahmed, Head of News of the same channel, on August 21, 2024. Since then, they have been in prison. (The Daily Star, August 2024a) All these journalists are arrested on baseless murder charges.
Finally, I would like to highlight that both Amnesty International (Amnesty International, August 2024) and Human Rights Watch (HRW, March 2025) have already raised concerns regarding the present government’s treatment of dissenters and minorities. These organizations have questioned the way the government is controlling the media. Now the question is – how long will the world community wait before they force the current government to release these persons after withdrawing the baseless cases filed against them? How long will we wait before freedom of expression is restored in the country? The reality is the people of Bangladesh cannot wait any longer.
References
HRCBM, 2024. BHBCUC reports 2,010 attacks in 16 days, but grim reality remains underreported – Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM). Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) – Serve People. Defend Rights. Secure Justice. https://www.hrcbm.org/wp-new/bhbcuc-reports-2010-attacks-in-16-days-but-grim-reality-remains-underreported/
Amnesty International. (2024, August 14). Bangladesh: Interim Government must restore freedom of expression in Bangladesh and repeal Cyber Security Act – Amnesty International Australia. Amnesty International Australia. https://www.amnesty.org.au/bangladesh-must-repeal-cyber-security-act/#:~:text=The%20Cyber%20Security%20Act%20%28CSA%29%202023%20is%20a,protests%2C%20said%20Amnesty%20International%20in%20a%20new%20briefing.
Human Rights Watch (2025, March 21). Bangladesh: Interim government should protect freedom of expression and opinion. https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/21/bangladesh-interim-government-should-protect-freedom-expression-and-opinion
BD News24. (2024, September 17). Shahriar Kabir arrested. Shahriar Kabir Arrested. https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/6b75eb11f091
Hindustan Times. (2024, November 25). Krishna Das Prabhu, Hindu leader and ISKCON monk arrested in Bangladesh. Who is he? Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/krishna-das-prabhu-hindu-leader-and-iskcon-monk-arrested-in-bangladesh-who-is-he-101732543091203.html
Daily Star. (2024a, August 21). Shakil Ahmed, Farzana Rupa arrested at Dhaka airport. https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/shakil-ahmed-farzana-rupa-arrested-dhaka-airport-3682786
Daily Star. (2024b, August 24). Justice Shamsuddin Manik held in Sylhet border area. https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/justice-shamsuddin-manik-held-sylhet-border-area-3684761
The Wire. (2024, September 23). Bangladesh: CJA concerned over Shyamlal Dutta’s arrest, urges Yunus to protect journalists. https://thewire.in/media/bangladesh-cja-concerned-over-shyamlal-duttas-arrest-urges-yunus-to-protect-journalists
International Human Rights Lawyer in exile.