Liakat Hossain Limon: Prominent Islamic thinker and chairman of the As-Sunna Foundation, Shaykh Ahmadullah, has sharply criticized the authorities’ handling of the October case in Gazipur involving the abuse of a 13-year-old girl. He has said that the incident does have a religious dimension and has portrayed it as a form of Hindu aggression. He accused the administration of attempting to downplay the crime by describing it as a “love affair,” which he called deeply regrettable.
On his verified Facebook page, Shaykh Ahmadullah reminded readers that under prevailing law any sexual relations with a girl under 16-whether or not there was consent-are regarded as rape or sexual abuse. He asked why the administration would try to minimize the matter despite that clear legal standard.
Shaykh Ahmadullah and others publicly encourage child marriage. They oppose the law against child marriage (“child marriage ban”) and, in the name of Islam, repeatedly promote marriage to underage girls-thereby endangering children’s safety again and again.
A group called “Tawhidi Janata” has repeatedly spread rumours against Hindus and tried to incite communal tension. The spiritual leaders of this Tawhidi movement include Shaykh Ahmadullah and certain Azhari figures.
Police Statement
Bangladesh Police have said the incident is not communal. According to their investigation, the accused, Joy Kumar Das, had a romantic relationship with the girl, and she had previously run away with him on two occasions of her own accord.
Allegations of a Staged Kidnapping and Communal Provocation
The controversy intensified when Mufti Muhammad Mahibullah Miazi, the khatib of the T&T Bazar Jame Mosque in Tongi East Thana, at one point claimed he had been kidnapped. His reported disappearance and subsequent “rescue” sparked a major uproar on social media. But as police probed deeper, a series of concealed facts emerged.
Based on evidence and confessions now on record, investigators say the kidnapping was staged and that the khatib himself was the principal orchestrator.
Mahibullah accused the Hindu organisation ISKCON, claiming they were plotting against Muslims. Critics say his real aim was to provoke violence against Hindus. They argue his followers wanted riots, and that this staged drama was meant to mobilize Tawhidi Janata supporters and incite communal conflict.
Patterns of Targeting and Selective Impunity
Analysts say these incidents form part of a recurring pattern in which fabricated or exaggerated dramas are staged to provoke communal unrest, with the stated aim of intimidating Hindus and stoking anti-India sentiment. They warn that such repeated theatrics suggest an organized effort designed to make the country unsafe for minorities.
Even when evidence and confessions emerge, critics allege, suspected perpetrators are sometimes released while othersincluding ISKCON members arrested earlier without proven wrongdoing-remain imprisoned. This double standard in law enforcement deepens the public’s sense of injustice.
Looking back, many Hindus still remember the staged incident in Comilla: in October 2021 a Quran was reportedly found at a puja mandap in Nanuar Dighi’s neighbourhood, an incident that later sparked unrest across the town and attacks on several puja mandaps. Police examined CCTV footage and identified a Muslim youth named Iqbal as involved. Authorities said the event was a planned operation meant to sabotage the puja and to persecute minorities. Human rights groups and media reports at the time cited total deaths in the range of 8 to 11.
That episode also led to the destruction of 247 minority places of worship. Had the CCTV evidence and the majority’s conspiracy not been uncovered by police, far more people might have been killed.
The brutality of that violence still scars the community. Minorities in Bangladesh reportedly live in fear; many are so demoralized that they no longer protest, and some have resigned themselves to their fate.
In the Comilla case, the police arrested the identified conspirator Iqbal, but later declared him mentally ill and released him with a light sentence. In the recent case, despite Mahibullah’s confession of a state-level conspiracy and corroborating evidence, he too was reportedly released.
Mahibullah claimed he had received ten threatening letters allegedly sent in ISKCON’s name-letters that, he said, urged mosques to speak on behalf of Hindus. Critics contend those letters were fabricated to inflame Tawhidi Janata supporters and provoke attacks on Hindus. To win sympathy, Mahibullah even added a concocted story about having his beard forcibly shaved.
It is hard to accept that a confessed orchestrator would be set free. Where even a minimal standard of justice operates, such an outcome should not happen.
A Call to Conscience
To my Muslim brothers and sisters who believe in justice: how much longer will we allow the name of Islam to be tarnished this way? This “religion-as-theatre” must stop. Resist those who turn faith into a business. Bring people like the accused Mahibullah under the law and ensure impartial, proper trials-only then will true justice be served.
Author: Liakat Hossain Limon
Blogger and Activist
Date: 10 November, 2025
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[The opinions published in MinorityWatch belong solely to the author]
