President of the New America Voters Association, Dilip Nath / HinduAction

President of the New America Voters Association, Dilip Nath, issued a warning at a congressional briefing organized by HInduAction on Mar.25, describing the situation in Bangladesh as a "genocide" targeting Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. 

“This issue is front and center of the U.S., and particularly the Trump administration,” Nath said. “The same people who believe in an ideology funded by the same global group are simply trying to implement and rule the government through an Islamic caliphate and, by and large, enforce Sharia law.”

The briefing, organized by HinduAction and titled "Democracy in Bangladesh: Challenges of Radical Islamism, Chinese Influence & Threat to Minorities," brought together scholars, human rights advocates, and policymakers to discuss the growing influence of radical groups, continued persecution of minorities, and the geopolitical stakes of Bangladesh’s political instability.

Nath underscored the responsibility of the U.S. Congress to act against rising extremism. “This Congress has a responsibility and duty to protect the most vulnerable people and combat this rise of terrorism,” he stated.

Drawing a parallel to past security threats, he warned that terrorist networks once linked to Bangladesh could re-emerge. “They might be in Bangladesh today, but you know what? When 9/11 happened, some of those terrorists were trained in Bangladesh camps,” he said. “We have seen that Bangladesh was once a corner of terror. Now, after years of hibernation, they are rising again.”

Calling for decisive action, Nath urged the U.S. to stand in solidarity with Bangladeshi civilians and defend democracy. “We must condemn them. We must protect civilians. And we must stand with the people so that democracy can still sustain and survive in Bangladesh,” he concluded.

Michael Rubin: "History is repeating itself"

Michael Rubin, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the event’s keynote speaker, warned against ignoring the historical patterns that have led to radical takeovers in the past.

Drawing parallels to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Rubin noted that Western governments had been deceived by Ayatollah Khomeini’s promises of democracy—only to watch as he consolidated power and established a theocratic regime.

"We are seeing the same playbook in Bangladesh," he said. "Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies are manipulating narratives to hide their true intent: an Islamic caliphate."

Rubin criticized the US government's reluctance to confront the ideological roots of Islamist extremism.

"When Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey says he's against terror while sponsoring Hamas, or when Ayatollah Khamenei claims to oppose terrorism while backing Hezbollah, we recognize the hypocrisy. Yet, we struggle to apply the same scrutiny to Bangladesh," he said.

"We need to understand, for example, when it came to Jamaat-e-Islami, it was the only group outside of the Nazis that systematically went through a judicial process for its complicity in genocide," Rubin said. 

He added that "we need to apply Global Magnitsky Act sanctions to Muhammad Yunus for the crimes he's committing against the Bangladeshi people, against journalists, and against religious figures".

 

 

Speakers at the briefing. / HinduAction

Chris Blackburn on systematic erasure

Chris Blackburn, a foreign affairs expert and communications director of the European Bangladesh Forum, framed the current crisis as part of a broader effort to rewrite Bangladesh’s history.

"On March 25, 1971, Dhaka became a killing field overnight," Blackburn said, recalling the genocide committed by the Pakistani military. "Professors, students, and especially Hindus were singled out for execution. Even Americans weren’t spared—Father William Evans from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was shot at point-blank range."

Blackburn accused the Yunus administration of attempting to rehabilitate war criminals from 1971 while denying the atrocities committed against Hindus and other minorities.

Speakers warn of rising extremism

Arifa Rahman Ruma, former counselor at the Embassy of Bangladesh, shared her personal experience of threats and harassment following the transition of power, underscoring concerns about the shrinking space for dissent.

Priyotosh Dey, a prominent Hindu community leader from New York, called on U.S. lawmakers and foreign policy experts to address the concerns of Hindus and secular Muslims in Bangladesh. He warned against being misled by organizations such as the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), which, he noted, have well-documented links to Jamaat-e-Islami.

Political analyst and columnist Rana Hassan Mahmud presented evidence pointing to a resurgence of Islamist extremism, an increasing influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and a strengthening alliance between Pakistan and radical elements in Bangladesh.

Utsav Chakrabarti, executive director of HinduACTion, warned of the severe consequences of inaction. "Without decisive measures, Bangladesh risks falling under the control of radical Islamists advocating for Sharia law and a Caliphate," he cautioned. "Given Bangladesh’s vast population, such an outcome could lead to a crisis far worse than those witnessed in Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan combined, destabilizing the strategically crucial Indo-Pacific region."

Call for US action

Speakers at the briefing urged the US government to take decisive steps against Jamaat-e-Islami and other extremist groups operating in Bangladesh. Recommendations included targeted sanctions, greater scrutiny of political actors with ties to Islamist networks, and stronger engagement with minority communities facing persecution.

The briefing was attended by members of Congress, State Department officials, National Security Council representatives, advocacy organizations, and journalists covering Indo-Pacific geopolitics, South Asia, democracy, and human rights.