In a shocking revelation, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has publicly expressed solidarity with Hefazat-e-Islam, an extremist madrasa-based group, by reposting a poster on his official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account and referring to the 2013 law enforcement crackdown at Shapla Chattar as the “Shapla Massacre”. This post, made by a man still projected internationally as a champion of peace and development, unmistakably signals the ideological shift and alarming direction Bangladesh is heading.

This particular incident at Shapla Chattar took place in May 2013, when Hefazat-e-Islam besieged Dhaka’s central commercial district, issuing a set of 13 radical demands, many of which mirror the core ideologies of the Taliban and Islamic State. These demands included:

Before Yunus posted the statement, Hefazat had already revived its demands, urging Bangladesh’s interim regime to implement the 13-point agenda and pointing to so-called precedents in Western democracies to justify blasphemy laws. They cited the existence of such laws in the UK, Greece, Norway, Ireland, and some US states. In their rhetoric, freedom of expression was vilified as a pretext for “insulting Islam”.

In a disturbing statement, Hefazat said:

“In this country, we often see Muslims being insulted under the guise of atheism, freethinking, and progressivism to serve personal agendas. It is the government’s responsibility to put an end to this”.

Accusing........

© Blitz