Minority Persecution and Religious Extremism Were 'State-Sponsored' under the Awami League: Hasnat Abdullah

Minority persecution and religious extremism during the Awami League's rule were 'state-sponsored' — that is the explosive claim made by Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser for the southern region of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and member of parliament for Cumilla-4. He says that in a Bangladesh without the Awami League and Sheikh Hasina, people of all religious communities are now celebrating their festivals in a far more festive atmosphere than before.

He made the remarks in a post on the social media platform Facebook on Wednesday night (21 October). In the long post, he laid out detailed allegations about the Awami League's political strategy over minorities.

Hasnat Abdullah wrote: 'It is now clearly understood that minority persecution and religious extremism — these two elements were 'state-sponsored' during the Awami League government. During Puja, manufactured sabotage would be carried out through various Awami beneficiary groups, and the blame would be placed on different quarters. This both widened the divide between Hindus and Muslims and fuelled a strong campaign that minorities were safe nowhere except under the Awami League.'

In his account, selling this narrative was part of the Awami regime's political strategy. He said: 'That there is no alternative to the Awami League to save the minorities in this country, or that Bangladesh would become Afghanistan in an imagined rise of extremism — the Awami League sold these stories in many ways, at home and abroad. That is why, in their time, militancy dramas were staged on one side while idol vandalism at puja pavilions went on on the other.'

The NCP leader added that with the Awami League's flight, these incidents have also largely vanished from post-5 August Bangladesh. In his view, that itself proves how staged and deliberate the earlier incidents were.

But Hasnat Abdullah offered a different explanation for the real character of the country's instability. He said: 'In reality, whatever instability exists in Bangladesh's society, politics and economy — or crimes and insecurity such as extortion and the grabbing of businesses and land — is, broadly speaking, not a communal problem. Most of it is connected to political and economic crime.'

He said: 'Ordinary Hindus and ordinary Muslims are both victims of these crimes. Majority or minority, powerless citizens of every religious community have been victims of extortion by the ruling party. They have been victims of the exercise of power by influential people in politics, the bureaucracy and various forces. In some cases, they have also been victims of forcible occupation of assets and land.'

On the rule of law, he said: 'Against all this, instead of establishing the rule of law, the Awami League selectively picked cases of citizens of the Hindu faith, or staged them themselves, and kept producing a narrative of communal violence. Today the mask of the Awami League's minority politics has fallen off.'

In Hasnat Abdullah's view, the way out of this situation lies in the rule of law itself. He said: 'In reality, the more crime is brought into the judicial process and the more protection citizens are given on law and order, the faster the poison of communal instability will leave society.'

Turning to Durga Puja, he noted: 'In the post-5 August mass-uprising period without the Awami League, apart from a few isolated incidents, Durga Puja — the biggest festival of Bangladesh's Hindu community — has passed almost without disruption and with great enthusiasm for three consecutive years. This is an extraordinary expression of Bangladesh's religious harmony.'

He described the current situation as 'undoubtedly a joyful piece of news and a significant achievement in the pursuit of building a new state,' and a positive message for the new Bangladesh.

Calling this achievement 'an achievement of July,' he congratulated the new and beautiful Bangladesh. Coming just after Durga Puja ended, the remarks have sparked fresh discussion in political circles — raising, on the one hand, major allegations about the character of the past regime, and on the other, presenting a picture of present-day harmony.

What remains to be seen is how other political parties react to Hasnat Abdullah's statement, and how far the public debate goes over the allegations he has raised on the question of minority security.