Between the Secular and the Sacred: The Changing Role of Political Islam in Bangladesh

In recent months, Bangladesh has experienced an escalation of deadly attacks on secular activists by Islamist groups. It has also suffered assaults on religious minorities and foreign nationals. To many observers, these incidents amplify the rise of radical Islamists and signal the arrival of international terrorist networks in Bangladesh.

Less discussed, however, is how this is all unfolding against the backdrop of changes in the role of political Islam, which has become a more potent mobilizing force in recent decades. Bangladesh as well as Pakistan (from which Bangladesh gained independence in 1971) were founded on secular principles. Yet in both countries, political Islam has since become a more potent mobilizing force.  In Bangladesh, according to some analysts, the recent violence should be seen not merely as evidence of a rise in Islamist radicalism, but also of a fundamental shift in how Islam functions in Bangladeshi society, and of political Islam’s heightened capacity to serve as a powerful catalyst for popular mobilization.

At this event, Dr. Anders Härdig and Dr. Tazreena Sajjad will pose a fundamental question: what explains the increase in the potency of political Islam as a mobilizing force in South Asia over the past few decades? They will also highlight their ongoing research in Bangladesh, which focuses on the role of madrasas as a mobilizing force. Härdig and Sajjad will relate their findings to the recent attacks in Bangladesh, and particularly what these attacks may say about the changing relationship between secularism and Islam in the country.