While reports of Bangladesh seeing a resurgence of Islamism is greatly exaggerated in international media, the fact that hardline voices are now finding more of an avenue to push their regressive views is not a factor that should be discounted. The recent vitriol expressed against not just the findings and recommendations made by the interim government’s women’s commission but the body itself, on the part of organizations such as Hefazat-e Islam points to this.
Groups such as Hefazat and Jamaat have outright rejected the commission’s recommendations and have even, stunningly enough, demanded the commission itself be scrapped. Given just how far Bangladesh has come in the past few decades due to the increasing involvement of women in the formal economy, and how far Bangladesh has yet to go in terms of ensuring equal rights for women, bowing down to hardline voices which seek to further suppress the voices of women is a mistake that Bangladesh cannot afford to make.
Indeed, Bangladesh needs women to mobilize in more arenas if the country is to fulfill its middle income ambitions. Not limited to their economic emancipation, our nation needs more women to participate in the political landscape and occupy more positions of leadership. Which is why the government must be careful to not pay much heed to regressive voices which seek to not only put a stop to any further progress, but also undo everything we have achieved so far in terms of women’s rights.
Bangladesh is a land of diverse faiths and belief systems where every citizen is entitled to their rights, and groups which want to establish their regressive values under the guise of religion should never be tolerated.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
