Tuesday marks one 12 months since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled Bangladesh, triggering a political disaster that unleashed widespread unrest. The nation since her ouster has confronted a surge in mob violence and lynchings, with the LGBTQ group on the epicenter.
The Washington Blade reported in August 2024 the collapse of public order compelled many on this marginalized group into hiding, searching for refuge in secure homes as vigilante assaults intensified. A 12 months later, because the nation grapples with ongoing instability and a weakened legislation enforcement system — marked by a 30 % emptiness price in police positions — the experiences of the LGBTQ group provide a stark measure of Bangladesh’s social and political restoration.
Tushar Kanti Baidya, program director of Inclusive Bangladesh, an LGBTQ advocacy group, instructed the Blade the panorama for LGBTQ rights in Bangladesh has shifted for the reason that 2024 political disaster. Sadly, Baidya stated, this modification has taken a deeply regarding path.
“Over the previous decade, we’ve labored exhausting to construct optimistic visibility for LGBTQ people, notably transgender individuals. Nonetheless, that progress is now beneath menace as a result of rising affect of right-wing political teams and their allies,” stated Baidya. “These teams proceed to disclaim the legitimacy of transgender identities and are actively engaged in coordinated campaigns towards the broader LGBTQ group.”
“The hostile setting has resulted in widespread discrimination, harassment, and violence. Transgender people, particularly, are being focused, going through bodily assault, bullying, and restrictions in persevering with their conventional professions,” famous Baidya. “Even those that have contributed considerably to human rights efforts should not spared.”
Baidya stated Sanjiboni Sudha, the group’s government director, was “constantly harassed and pressured to resign from her place” at BRAC financial institution, a monetary establishment affiliated with BRAC, a outstanding NGO.
“Regardless of reaching out to the financial institution’s normal supervisor and BRAC’s government director, Mr. Asif Saleh, we obtained no substantive response,” Baidya instructed the Blade. “The matter was finally dismissed as an ‘inside subject’ of the financial institution.”
Baidya stated Sanjiboni misplaced her scholarship on the College of Dhaka after the sudden abolition of the trans quota, with no follow-up steerage to handle the choice’s impression. Baidya added one other colleague, Saraban Tahura, was denied a contract renewal at Walton Group, a non-public firm, whereas her cisgender colleagues in comparable roles had been retained.
“Members of our group who brazenly supported a brand new political occasion had been expelled from its committees as soon as their sexual or gender identification turned public,” Baidya instructed the Blade. “Incidents of blackmail, hate crimes, and even killings have escalated considerably.”
“On account of this widespread and systemic backlash, many members of the LGBTQ group in Bangladesh have been compelled into silence, dwelling in concern, and ready for a safer and extra inclusive future,” added Baidya.
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, a homosexual man, was brutally murdered in Gazipur, a metropolis simply north of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, on July 19.
The killing, described by JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France, a Paris-based human rights group, as premeditated, has intensified fears amongst marginalized teams.
JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France’s 2024 report paperwork a pointy rise in violence towards Bangladesh’s LGBTQ group.
The report famous that following the autumn of Hasina’s authorities and the formation of an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, Islamist fundamentalist teams gained important affect. Exploiting the following political instability, these teams unleashed a wave of assaults on LGBTQ individuals, exacerbating the group’s vulnerability amid a deteriorating safety panorama.
Baidya instructed the Blade that beneath Hasina’s administration, minority communities — spiritual, sexual, gender, and ethnic teams — benefited from inclusive insurance policies and focused social security applications. Hasina’s authorities, he stated, confirmed a transparent dedication to supporting marginalized teams by way of institutional measures and public acknowledgment, fostering a extra protecting setting earlier than the 2024 political upheaval.
“In distinction, the present interim authorities has but to display any significant motion to uphold or proceed these protections.,” stated Baidya. “There was no clear initiative or coverage dedication aimed toward safeguarding the rights of minority teams, leaving these communities in a state of uncertainty and heightened vulnerability. This lack of proactive engagement from the current management is especially regarding, because it indicators a possible regression within the hard-won progress made towards equality and inclusion in Bangladesh.”
Hasina’s authorities from 2013-2021 enacted a number of trans-inclusive insurance policies, notably granting authorized recognition to the trans group as a 3rd gender in 2013 for official paperwork, together with passports and voter ID playing cards. These measures enabled trans individuals to use for presidency jobs and vote beneath their acknowledged gender identification.
Bangladesh additionally turned one of many few South Asian international locations to supply tax rebates to corporations using trans individuals, bolstering financial inclusion earlier than Hasina’s authorities fell.
The Yunus-led interim authorities has not launched any insurance policies to advance LGBTQ inclusion, aligning as an alternative with conservative and Islamist political teams, some identified for actively opposing LGBTQ rights. The administration lifted a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative Islamist occasion with a historical past of resisting LGBTQ protections.
“There have been widespread allegations suggesting that the current anti-government protests had been not directly supported by overseas actors, notably the US,” famous Baidya. “Claims have emerged that USAID (U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement)-funded sure people and NGOs with the intention of selling an agenda aimed toward unseating the earlier authorities.”
“It’s well-documented that Professor Muhammad Yunus, a central determine within the present political transition, has maintained robust ties with earlier U.S.-aligned democratic administrations,” he added. “Given this context, it’s unlikely that the present Republican-led U.S. authorities will considerably alter its place, particularly if the present political association serves broader strategic or geopolitical pursuits.”
Baidya instructed the Blade that Yunus’s authorities has persued insurance policies that undermine LGBTQ peoples’ basic rights. Somewhat than fostering inclusion or dialogue, he stated the present authorities has intensified measures that marginalize and dehumanize sexual and gender minorities, deepening their exclusion amid Bangladesh’s unstable political panorama.
“This inconsistency highlights a troubling double commonplace, the place political rhetoric is used to achieve energy, however as soon as in management, the identical authorities disregards human rights and fails to guard the very communities it beforehand criticised others for participating with,” stated Baidya, who added girls and trans activists particularly have change into targets.
“Many have been compelled to relocate throughout the nation after receiving credible threats of abduction, sexual violence, and even demise,” he stated. “These threats have created a local weather of concern and compelled many into silence or isolation.”
Baidya instructed the Blade that trans Bangladeshis are beneath elevated stress to hide their gender identification.
Outstanding group members, as soon as seen in public and advocacy areas, have sharply curtailed their actions as a result of security issues. These with sources or worldwide connections, Baidya famous, are more and more searching for to depart the nation in pursuit of security and dignity.
He stated Inclusive Bangladesh receives as much as 10 requests for assist and relocation help every week. Baidya instructed the Blade that restrictive visa insurance policies within the U.S. and European international locations have left many LGBTQ Bangladeshis in limbo.
Neither Hasina nor her political occasion, the Bangladesh Awami League, have returned the Blade’s request for remark.
“At the moment, no main political occasion has brazenly expressed assist for LGBTIQ+ rights,” stated Baidya. “Within the absence of political backing, our solely path ahead is to persist by way of strategic advocacy, group engagement, and coverage lobbying. We should proceed working tirelessly to make sure that the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons are ultimately acknowledged, revered, and institutionalized.”
