Muhammad Yunus’s Islamist turn: Bangladesh’s silent war on Hindus

Analysis

By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury  

Bangladesh, once hailed as a moderate Muslim democracy born out of secular ideals, is now hurtling toward an Islamist abyss. The country’s Nobel laureate-turned-ruler, Muhammad Yunus, stands accused of presiding over a slow-motion genocide of Hindus - a campaign disturbingly similar to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. As Dhaka’s new regime adopts the methods and militancy of radical Islam, the world remains largely silent. If this silence continues, Bangladesh could soon become South Asia’s next Iran - an Islamist theocracy masquerading as democracy.

As Muhammad Yunus - once celebrated as a Nobel laureate and the “father of microfinance” - positions himself at the helm of an increasingly Islamist-leaning regime with ambitions reminiscent of Iran’s Ayatollahs, a silent but coordinated campaign to eliminate Bangladesh’s Hindu population is taking shape. Islamist networks, foreign intelligence agencies, and radical ideologues appear to be orchestrating this strategy, targeting the country’s remaining 13.1 percent Hindu minority. The blueprint for this persecution mirrors the so-called “Nigeria playbook”, where the Christian population has faced systematic violence and near-genocide at the hands of Islamist militants.

On November 1, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to prepare for potential military action in Nigeria, accusing its government of failing to stop the persecution of Christians. He warned that he would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria”. Yet, while some Western media outlets downplayed these developments, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris denied the existence of any “deliberate, systematic attack on Christians”, dismissing Trump’s claims as “inaccurate and harmful”.

The facts on the ground tell a different story.

Security in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north has deteriorated sharply. Since Bola Tinubu became president in mid-2023, more than 10,000 people have been killed, hundreds abducted, and three million displaced. The Boko Haram insurgency, which began in 2002, continues to devastate communities - killing tens of thousands and kidnapping civilians, including the infamous 2014 abduction of over 250 schoolgirls in Borno State. Criminal gangs now terrorize the country’s northwest, preying on impoverished rural populations. Of Nigeria’s 186 million citizens, approximately 86 million - or 46 percent - are Christians, many living under constant threat.

A disturbingly similar pattern is emerging in Bangladesh following what may be termed the “Jihadist Coup” - a regime-change operation allegedly engineered by elements of the US Deep State with collaboration from Joe Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George Soros. In the aftermath, Islamist-jihadist groups have exploited the political vacuum to transform Bangladesh into a new epicentre of religious extremism and terror. What began as a political movement against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has morphed into a campaign of religious and cultural cleansing. Hindus, in particular, have become the main target of those seeking to make Bangladesh a “Hindu-free” theocracy.

This campaign began with attacks on the ISKCON movement, which Islamists branded an “extremist Hindutva group”. They have called for ISKCON’s ban, torched temples, and launched violent attacks on its devotees. But this is only part of a much broader, darker design - one aimed at erasing the entire Hindu community and recasting Bangladesh as an Islamist state.

Since August 5, 2025, hundreds of Hindu temples have been vandalized or set ablaze, and an unknown number of Hindus have been lynched. The Yunus regime, far from protecting minorities, appears complicit - turning a blind eye while state institutions either facilitate or ignore the ongoing atrocities.

Islamist organizations such as Hefazat-e-Islam, Azadi Andolan Bangladesh, and Towhidi Janata operate freely, spreading terror among Hindu citizens through relentless hate campaigns. Disturbingly, this escalating persecution has received little to no attention from international media or human rights groups, even though it mirrors the Christian genocide unfolding in Nigeria.

However, there are signs that the era of Islamist patronage by the US Deep State may be ending. Speaking at the Manama Dialogue - an annual security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) - on October 31, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a decisive shift in Washington’s foreign policy under President Trump.

“For decades”, Gabbard said, “our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change and nation-building - a one-size-fits-all approach of toppling regimes, trying to impose our system of governance on others, intervening in conflicts barely understood, and walking away with more enemies than allies”.

While Gabbard’s statement signals a departure from the interventionist agenda that once fueled regime-change operations, it also raises concerns that Washington may now overlook egregious human rights violations in favor of regional stability. This could mean ignoring the ongoing genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh, being facilitated by a regime born of Biden-era manipulation.

Furthermore, the Trump administration risks underestimating the growing threat posed by Islamist-jihadist organizations such as Ansar al-Islam (Al Qaeda’s local branch), Islamic State (ISIS), Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizb ut-Tahrir - all gaining strength under Yunus’s rule.

On October 20, 2025, Yunus regime adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain publicly announced the recruitment and training of 8,850 individuals across seven centers. The program includes martial arts, judo, taekwondo, and firearms training - overseen by retired Bangladeshi officers with strong pro-Pakistan sympathies, alongside covert ISI and Turkey’s Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MIT) operatives. Reports indicate that this is only the first phase of a five-batch plan, with tens of thousands more recruits expected by January 2026. Selected operatives are allegedly being prepared for advanced commando and espionage training abroad - particularly in Pakistan and Turkey - and will later be deployed across India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Western countries for subversive missions.

The seeds of this militia were sown earlier. In December 2024, a radical student organization loyal to Yunus - the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement - publicly launched a force under the same name: the Islamic Revolutionary Army. Its ideological roots are found in narratives propagated by groups aligned with Jamaat-e-Islami. On September 27, 2025, Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr. Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher declared at a New York gathering that five million Jamaat youth were prepared to “fight for independence” against India, vowing that part of this force would engage in guerrilla warfare while others would infiltrate India to implement the long-prophesied Ghazwa-e-Hind campaign.

Simultaneously, a coordinated propaganda war has been launched to undermine Bangladesh’s Armed Forces and Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, aiming to fracture the last institution capable of resisting Islamist dominance. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has even accused General Waker of acting as a CIA agent involved in orchestrating the coup against Sheikh Hasina, a claim likely designed to erode confidence within the military ranks.

Altogether, the situation in Bangladesh is dire. The Yunus regime’s increasing alignment with Islamist forces, the ongoing persecution of Hindus, and the creation of an Iranian-style Islamic Revolutionary Army are transforming the nation into a potential jihadist stronghold. Unless President Donald Trump and his administration take decisive action to hold the facilitators of these heinous crimes accountable, Bangladesh could soon descend into the same abyss as Afghanistan - or worse, become another Iran under a self-styled “Ayatollah” Muhammad Yunus.

The international community must not repeat the mistakes it made in Nigeria or Afghanistan by dismissing early warnings. The ongoing persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh is neither spontaneous nor isolated - it is systematic, state-enabled, and ideologically driven. The West, particularly under renewed US leadership, must recognize the Yunus regime’s Islamist character and respond with moral clarity and strategic resolve. Failing to act now will allow another jihadist state to take root - one that threatens not only Bangladesh’s minorities but also the stability of South Asia and beyond.

Disclaimer: This paper is the author’s individual scholastic contribution and does not necessarily reflect the organisation’s viewpoint.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an award-winning journalist, writer, and Editor of the newspaper Blitz. He specializes in counterterrorism and regional geopolitics.