Hizb resurfaces in Bangladesh, starts propaganda against India

The banned Islamist group regains visibility post-Hasina, attacking India and urging caliphate rule.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The Bangladesh branch of the banned Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT), which had gone underground in 2009, is now operating openly and aggressively putting out its propaganda, calling for action against India and for the establishment of Islamic rule in the state.

Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in July 2024 in a color revolution and the installation of the US-backed interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, the group has become significantly more vocal, signalling the kind of confidence and informal patronage it appears to be receiving from sections within Dhaka's political and bureaucratic establishment - support it did not enjoy during Hasina's tenure, when its cadres were under constant surveillance and arrests were frequent.

In September 2025, the group staged a high-visibility online political conference marking the latest step in a months-long campaign of public messaging that represents a calculated attempt to reclaim ideological space in Bangladesh's fluid post-Hasina political landscape. The conference, promoted under the banner "Bangladesh 2.0: Subservience or Liberation?", was streamed live on its YouTube channel and was advertised in both Bengali and English. The programme promised three segments: allegations of US-UK-India interference in the July 2024 transition, a HuT blueprint for rejecting "secular-capitalist" governance, and guidance for pushing the uprising toward what the organisation calls a "comprehensive change of the state."