Iftekharul Bashar
A year after the fall of the Awami League (AL) government in Bangladesh, the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus finds itself at a critical juncture. While the government has focused on political and economic reforms, a concerning shift has occurred in its approach to counterterrorism (CT). The proactive and zero-tolerance stance of the previous administration has been replaced by what many insiders describe as a “too soft approach,” creating a vacuum that militants are reportedly exploiting to reorganize and re-establish their networks. Radical preaching and propaganda activities continue unabated in both online and on-the-ground spaces, something that, many observers feel.
might lead to mass radicalization, especially of youth. One of the key trends observed over the past year is the merging of traditional religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh with a more hardline ideology propagated by a new generation of urban and tech-savvy extremists with mainstream academic backgrounds. These new actors leverage their educational credentials and digital expertise to portray violent ideologies as intellectually and morally sound, which resonates with a younger, urban, and educated demographic.
The trend has intensified since the August 2024 regime change in Dhaka, which allowed previously isolated extremist groups to forge alliances on common platforms to organize public events in the major cities of Bangladesh.The current problem stems from a major policy shift by the interim government, which has not only publicly downplayed the threat of terrorism and extremism but has also actively disempowered the very agencies meant to combat it. Although the culture of denial is not new, what is new is the crippling of the security agencies by deliberately diverting them from counterterrorism.
Experienced counterterrorism professionals have been sidelined, dismissed, or transferred to insignificant posts. Others have faced intimidation through police cases. This has created an internal crisis that has severely limited these agencies’ ability to proactively respond to threats. According to multiple security and intelligence sources who spoke to this writer on condition of anonymity, there are significant concerns that Bangladesh’s security agencies have become “toothless tigers,” unable to operate effectively without the government’s backing — a backing that is conspicuously absent.
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