Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part A (2022)

The growth of radical Islamisation in Bangladesh has become a significant threat to the Sheikh Hasina regime. Sheikh Hasina, who and her party, the Awami League (AL), once flirted with some Islamic religious groups, has become targeted by the same, such as Jamaat-e-Islam and Hefazat-e-Islam. Islamisation and radicalisation of Bangladesh society are not new. It started with Pakistan's birth on the religious lines in 1947. The most powerful radical group, Jamaat, as a socio-cultural organisation, was created in the pre-independent time to unite Muslims across the subcontinent. Later, it changed its objective to unite Muslims of East and West Pakistan on anti-India lines. With the Supreme Court of Bangladesh banning, it in 2013, the vacuum was filled by another radical group called Hefazat-e-Islam. Hefazat was seen as a secular moderate organisation that later took the Jamaat's agenda, with many Jamaat leaders joining it. Once nourished by the Hasina government, Hefazat has become a Frankenstein’s monster for Hasina, primarily aiming to remove the Hasina government. The paper will unveil why and how the Hasina government supported the Hefazat. When and why did it go against Hasina's government policies?