Mob Violence Rises as State Control Weakens in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is no longer governed by the rule of law; it is increasingly ruled by fear. Across the country, mobs operate with near impunity—setting fire to homes and businesses, vandalising media offices, attacking cultural institutions and historical sites, and desecrating mazars, temples, and graveyards. Foreign missions have also been targeted, while citizens are being lynched in broad daylight.

Amid growing insecurity, the embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and India have temporarily closed their visa offices and advised their nationals to avoid crowded areas.

Journalists are assaulted and detained, minorities are hunted and burned publicly in broad daylight, and history itself is set on fire. The state watches. It does not intervene. Rather the government honors the hawks, the jihadis and aggressors.

This is not spontaneous unrest. It is the visible collapse of governance.

The attacks on Prothom Alo and The Daily Star— two leading dailies set ablaze for publishing election research —- sent an unmistakable message: truth is now punishable by violence.

These two dailies published an election survey result that states that if the banned political party of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League (AL) is allowed to participate, 69% percent voters would vote for them.  Such publication was not acceptable to the current Head of Interim Government Dr. Muhammed Yunus, nor to the Islamist party, the Jamaate Islam, the NCP, and their youth groups. Interestingly, these two dailies have been most vocal against the Hasina government for last many years. When houses and offices of AL leaders were set on fire, these dailies instead of condemning, argue that such are their ventilation of grievances.

Cultural landmarks such as Chhayanaut, a cultural center plus Indira Gandhi Cultural center, have been vandalised to erase memory and intimidate identity while the law enforcement authorities were simply onlookers.  

The most striking example is the destruction of the Dhanmondhi  32 again and again while security forces stood as onlookers. Dhanmondi 32 is the national museum of independence of Bangladesh. It was the house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation and from this house,  Bangabandhu launched his relentless struggle against the Pakistani subjugation and atrocities for years and he also declared the independence of Bangladesh from this house. It is the same house where he and his entire family except 2 were murdered in 1975 coup.  His surviving daughters donated this house to the Bangladesh government and since then it is a national museum with rich history, heritage and artifacts. The AL party and PM Hasina routinely pay homage to the founding father in this museum especially on national days. To erase history of Bangladesh independence, the jihadis destroyed it into ground .

In addition, the properties and businesses of political families are targeted to enforce silence. In Uttora area, 32 shops were set ablaze and houses and businesses of AL party leaders were set ablaze in many cities and towns for the second time. Many houses were burned down on 5-8 August, 2024.

Most chilling of all was the lynching and burning alive of a young Hindu garment worker in Mymensingh Mr. Dipu Chandra Das after false accusations of insulting religion. No evidence was unearthed. Yet he was lynched, tied into a tree fully naked and then burned to death alive.  The police did not help him. This was medieval brutality, executed in a modern nation-state—with no immediate justice in sight.

Security forces stood aside as mobs ruled the streets. Army Chief, however, claimed that their main job is only protecting “vehicles and goods”.  While citizens and institutions are burned down by mobs, they maintain neutrality. It is not neutrality—it is abdication. Silence from authorities is no longer incompetence; it means is complicity.

The interim administration has allowed extremist-linked groups to fill the vacuum of power. Hate has been normalised. Rumours replace investigations. Vigilantes replace courts. Governance has been reduced to survival by intimidation.

Since Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammed Yunus usurped powers in August, 2024 illegally and unconstitutionally, in order to defame the past government of Sheikh Hasina, he meticulously designed a propaganda campaign with false and fabricated narratives in a way to create extreme hatred, vengeance, and intolerance against Sheikh Hasina, her party, the AL and also against India as India gave shelter to her.  His propaganda created an extremist violent Jihadi group that are above law. Now Bangladesh has turned into a land of extreme jihadi terrorists and unless checked, soon they may spread their venom of hatred to other countries.

In fact, Bangladesh now faces a stark choice: restore the rule of law or slide further into chaos, isolation, and disintegration.

We echo what Dr. Mohsin Ali, a freedom fighter of New York has correctly stated “… History will remember not those who shouted the loudest in moments of chaos, it will ask who stood up when the nation was burning and who allowed it to burn”.

Professor Dr. A K Abdul Momen
Former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh