{"id":22603,"date":"2025-10-31T10:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/?p=22603"},"modified":"2025-10-31T10:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:33:08","slug":"jihad-in-bangladesh-islamists-erasing-hindu-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/jihad-in-bangladesh-islamists-erasing-hindu-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"Jihad in Bangladesh: Islamists Erasing Hindu Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rise of Islamist extremism in South Asia is entering a new and troubling phase. <\/em>Their real goal, however, is far darker than banning a Hindu organization: it is to purge majority-Muslim Bangladesh of its remaining Hindu population and to reshape the country into a theocratic state. <\/em>In a disturbing development, the government’s response to a court petition demanding a ban on ISKCON described the movement as a “religious fundamentalist organization”.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This rhetoric, once confined to the fringe, now finds a place in official discourse – a dangerous sign of how far Islamist influence has penetrated the state.<\/em><\/p>\n

[I]n the eyes of Islamist ideologues, peaceful outreach represents a challenge — the assertion of a pluralistic worldview that contradicts their absolutist doctrine.<\/em><\/p>\n

What makes this current wave of anti-Hindu agitation particularly alarming is its transnational dimension. Intelligence officials in Dhaka have identified growing coordination between Bangladeshi and Pakistani Salafist groups, some with direct ideological or logistical ties to organizations once linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.<\/em><\/p>\n

The persecution of ISKCON is not merely an attack on a Hindu organization — it is part of a larger strategy to dismantle Bangladesh’s secularism and to replace tolerance with totalitarian theology.<\/em><\/p>\n

If left unchecked, this campaign could transform Bangladesh into yet another bastion of jihadist ideology in South Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n

The rise of Islamist extremism in South Asia is entering a new and troubling phase. What began as a political movement cloaked in piety has increasingly transformed into a campaign of cultural and religious erasure. In Bangladesh, the latest target of jihadist\u00a0wrath<\/a>\u00a0is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a global Hindu organization. Islamists now brand it an “extremist Hindutva group”, call for banning it, commit\u00a0arson<\/a>\u00a0against its temples, and\u00a0violence<\/a>\u00a0against its followers. Their real goal, however, is far darker than banning a Hindu organization: it is to purge majority-Muslim Bangladesh of its remaining Hindu population and to reshape the country into a theocratic state.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since last year’s jihadist-backed coup in Bangladesh, attacks on ISKCON centers and Hindu temples in the country have sharply escalated. Hardline groups such as Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) and Intifada Bangladesh have taken the lead in this\u00a0campaign<\/a>, with vocal support from elements within the country’s government. In a disturbing development, the government’s response to a court petition\u00a0demanding<\/a>\u00a0a ban on ISKCON\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0the movement as a “religious fundamentalist organization”. This rhetoric, once confined to the fringe, now finds a place in official discourse – a dangerous sign of how far Islamist influence has penetrated the state.<\/em><\/p>\n

The case of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former ISKCON member\u00a0imprisoned<\/a>\u00a0for advocating better treatment of religious minorities, underscores the climate of intimidation. Radical mobs have repeatedly targeted ISKCON’s temples in Bangladesh, vandalizing idols and torching prayer halls. Each attack serves the same purpose — to terrorize religious minorities and silence voices that preach coexistence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Recently, security agencies uncovered a chilling plot that could have ignited nationwide violence. Islamists\u00a0fabricated<\/a>\u00a0a story that Mawlana Muhibullah Miyaji, a 60-year-old Muslim cleric from Tongi, had been abducted and tortured by ISKCON members. The narrative spread rapidly on social media, prompting calls for jihad against Hindus. Only a swift police investigation – aided by surveillance videos and forensic evidence –\u00a0exposed<\/a>\u00a0the story as a complete fabrication.<\/em><\/p>\n

Authorities believe the motive behind this staged abduction was to incite mob attacks on Hindu communities and ISKCON centers, plunging the country into chaos while distracting attention from the rapid radicalization of Bangladesh’s Islamist ecosystem.<\/em><\/p>\n

To the outside world,\u00a0ISKCON<\/a>\u00a0hardly appears as a threat. Founded in New York City in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the movement has grown into a global spiritual and humanitarian network. With over 500 temples, rural communities, and vegetarian centers worldwide, ISKCON promotes vegetarianism, devotional service, and universal brotherhood. Yet in the eyes of Islamist ideologues, peaceful outreach represents a challenge — the assertion of a pluralistic worldview that contradicts their absolutist doctrine.<\/em><\/p>\n

What makes this current wave of anti-Hindu agitation particularly alarming is its transnational dimension. Intelligence officials in Dhaka have identified growing coordination between Bangladeshi and Pakistani Salafist groups, some with direct ideological or logistical ties to organizations once linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS. The\u00a0return<\/a>\u00a0of radical Islamist preacher Zakir Naik into Bangladesh — made possible by the Yunus regime’s\u00a0decision<\/a>\u00a0to lift the ban on his Peace TV — is viewed as a signal of state appeasement. Naik’s record is well known: he has justified suicide bombings, glorified Osama bin Laden, and\u00a0inspired<\/a>\u00a0the murderers behind the 2016 ISIS-style attack on Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even more\u00a0disturbing<\/a>\u00a0is the\u00a0arrival<\/a>\u00a0of Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, a senior figure in Pakistan’s Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadis and close associate of Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India. Zaheer’s speeches — urging Muslims to “kill apostates” and denouncing Jews and Christians as “enemies of Islam” — have drawn scrutiny from UK authorities for inciting violence. His\u00a0presence<\/a>\u00a0in Bangladesh today raises urgent questions about who facilitated his entry and what networks stand behind him.<\/em><\/p>\n

The growing coordination of Islamist movements across national borders, coupled with a permissive government, threatens not only Bangladesh’s fragile communal harmony but also regional stability. The persecution of ISKCON is not merely an attack on a Hindu organization — it is part of a larger strategy to dismantle Bangladesh’s secularism and to replace tolerance with totalitarian theology.<\/em><\/p>\n

If left unchecked, this campaign could transform Bangladesh into yet another bastion of jihadist ideology in South Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0egretnewseditor@gmail.com\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rise of Islamist extremism in South Asia is entering a new and troubling phase. Their real goal, however, is far darker than banning a Hindu organization: it is to purge majority-Muslim Bangladesh of its remaining Hindu population and to reshape the country into a theocratic state. In a disturbing development, the government’s response to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47471,"featured_media":22605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slider","category-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22606,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22603\/revisions\/22606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}