Bangladesh's turn towards Islamic extremism, its "hobnobbing" with Pakistan and ISIS flags at protest rallies in the country have sparked concern among Indian authorities and members of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, whose government was ousted last year and replaced by an interim dispensation led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said security agencies have been alerted. Addressing reporters in the state capital of Guwahati, Mr Sarma said, "We are also concerned about Bangladesh and the recent hobnobbing between Bangladesh and Pakistan. So, we have alerted our security agencies to keep a watch on what is going on across the border and remain vigilant."
The concern has increased because, despite international condemnation, Pakistan's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar continues to defend terror against India by calling the terrorists who carried out Tuesday's Pahalgam attacks "freedom fighters".
Speaking about the terrorists who carried out the attacks in Pahalgam, Dar said, "Those who carried out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam district on April 22 might be freedom fighters. We don't know who they are".
Dar was scheduled to visit Dhaka over the weekend as Yunus, who is the Bangladesh interim government's chief advisor - a post equivalent to that of prime minister - has been pitching for stronger ties with Pakistan. Experts said the Pakistan Army, which trains and sponsors terrorists to carry out attacks on India through the western border, has been wanting to do the same through the eastern border as well.
After the Pahalgam terror attack and increasing tension between India and Pakistan, however, Islamabad and Dhaka have decided to reschedule Dar's visit at the request of the Pakistan side. The new dates will be announced later, sources said.
Awami League's Concerns
Members of the Awami League have also pointed to worrying developments such as ISIS flags being displayed at rallies.
"A child in protests carrying an #ISIS flag. Even children are being indoctrinated into extremism in #Bangladesh under the #Yunus dictatorship," former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed said in a post on X.
A child in protests carrying an #ISIS flag. Even children are being indoctrinated into extremism in #Bangladesh under the #Yunus dictatorship. pic.twitter.com/k9wBGP3Qqs
— Sajeeb Wazed (@sajeebwazed) April 24, 2025
Sajeeb Wazed also shared a post authored by another Awami League leader, Mohammed A Arafat, which details how Muhammad Yunus included people who are sympathetic to "jihadists" in his advisory council and appointed them to leadership positions at the Counter Terrorism & Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit of the police.
The post states, "...therefore, the known jihadists are even meeting with the members of the country's Counter Terrorism Unit and even the Law Adviser Asif Nazrul in their office, which is simply unprecedented".
Why & How Bangladesh under Yunus is heading toward the path of radicalization/ Talibanization?
— Mohammad A. Arafat (@MAarafat71) April 23, 2025
Because,
(1) In the last seven months, #Yunus has not only freed many top #jihadists from prison, but his administration has also purposefully mistreated and ousted the law enforcement… pic.twitter.com/un8KVwEqbu
The post features photographs of Harun Izhar, a hardcore jihadist and decades-old Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) operative, meeting Law Adviser Nazrul in the law ministry's offices. Izhar has known links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has carried out several attacks on India, including the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Izhar has been charged with more than 25 cases in connection with terrorism. His terror activities were revealed when a transnational extremist group was busted by law enforcement agencies while they were getting military training at Izhar's madrassa in Chittagong's Lalkhan area. He and three other LeT terrorists were arrested from his secret training facility in 2009 and they revealed that they were planning to attack the US embassy and Indian High Commission, Arafat said.
On July 10, 2013, Izhar was arrested again after a grenade went off in his madrassa, leaving three people dead. The incident also led to a huge cache of IED-making materials being recovered from his room.
Law Adviser Nazrul, a known anti-India voice, has also been making objectionalble remarks on the Pahalgam terror attack.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
