Sheikh Hasina. File photo
| Photo Credit: AFP

A Bangladeshi tribunal banned broadcasts of “hate speech” by autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina on Thursday (December 5, 2024) , weeks after indicting her over the killing of protesters during the August revolution that ousted her.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is investigating Ms. Hasina for “mass murder”, among other charges, during the weeks of unrest that forced her to flee the country for neighbouring India.

“Sheikh Hasina is accused in several cases currently under investigation by the tribunal,” prosecutor Golam Monawar Hossain Tamim told reporters.

“We sought a ban on disseminating her hate speech as it could hinder legal proceedings or intimidate witnesses and victims,” he said, confirming the ICT had agreed to enact the ban.

“If her speeches continue to circulate, it will become difficult to bring witnesses to the tribunal.”

It was not immediately clear what authority would determine which speeches by Hasina qualified as hateful or how the order would be enforced.

The decision came days after Ms. Hasina addressed a gathering of supporters in New York by videolink, accusing Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus of “mass murder”.

Hundreds of people were killed in the weeks prior to Hasina’s ouster, most by police fire.

Scores more died in the hours after her toppling, largely in reprisal killings against prominent supporters of her Awami League party.

The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2010 to probe atrocities during the country’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Over the following years it sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death.

The court was regularly criticised by rights groups for not meeting proper trial standards and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate her rivals.

The interim government led by Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has vowed to push for Ms. Hasina’s extradition from India to be tried by the tribunal.

New Delhi:

India has written to Bangladesh’s interim government today expressing “serious concern” over multiple attacks on temples, shrines and puja mandaps or pandals. The attacks include incidents of desecration, vandalism, robbery and defacement.

New Delhi, which has been keenly observing the way events are unfolding across Bangladesh since the political crisis in the neighbouring country, said that there has been a systemic pattern in these attack.

Calling the recent attacks “deplorable”, the Ministry of External Affairs today said, “We have noted with serious concern, the attacks on a puja mandap in Tantibazar, Dhaka and the theft at the revered Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple at Satkhira.”

These attacks “follow a systematic pattern of desecration and damage to temples and deities that we have witnessed over several days now,” the foreign ministry stated.

Our statement on attack on Puja Mandap and desecration and damage to Hindu temples in Bangladesh:https://t.co/KXGnXLhgjq pic.twitter.com/Ty746nPn5c

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) October 12, 2024

Urging Dhaka, New Delhi said, “We call upon the Government of Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities and their places of worship, especially during this auspicious festival time.”

Prothom Alo, a Bangladeshi newspaper, reported that a “crude bomb was thrown” at a Durga Puja pandal in Tantibazar area in Dhaka’s old city. The report further stated that the incident happened on Friday and though there was a fire after the crude bomb was thrown, there have been no injuries.

In another incident of theft at the renowned Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple, a hand-made ‘mukut’ (crown) made of silver with gold plating, that was placed on goddess Maa Kali’s idol by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the temple in 2021 was stolen.

We have seen reports of theft of the crown gifted by PM Modi to Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple (Satkhira) in 2021 during his visit to

We express deep concern & urge Govt of Bangladesh to investigate theft, recover the crown & take action against the perpetrators@MEAIndia @BDMOFA

— India in Bangladesh (@ihcdhaka) October 11, 2024

Durga Puja is predominantly celebrated by Bengali Hindus and coincides with the Hindu festival of Navratri. The festival lasts 9 days-and-nights hence the name “nav ratri’. It culminates in the festival of Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami on the tenth day.

Religious freedom has come under attack in Bangladesh under Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’s stewardship of the country after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster due to politically-motivated protests. Mr Yunus is currently the Chief Adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government.

Mr Yunus however, has in recent times called these attacks “politically-motivated”, and not “communal”. In an interview to Press Trust of India last month, Mr Yunus had claimed the attacks were not communal, but a fallout of a political upheaval as there is a perception that most Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime, which was led by Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh;s founder Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman.

“I have said this to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also that this is exaggerated. This issue has several dimensions. When the country went through an upheaval following the atrocities by (Sheikh) Hasina and the Awami League, those who were with them also faced attacks,” the Nobel peace prize winner had said.