In fragile democracies like Bangladesh, populist regimes undoubtedly manipulate the perception of the public to consolidate the power which illustrates the theory of “manufacturing consent” of Noam Chomsky – which means how public opinion is shaped to serve the ruling elites. Between a few others, the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina embodies this tactic which used counter-terrorism campaigns to justify and maintain its authoritarianism mainly by exploiting security crises to remove the opposition and dissent to Bangladesh. The cooptation of intellectuals and academics aligned with the Awami League (Al) in power was at the heart of this strategy. The government has also absorbed individuals from the outside of its ideological base which reflected the unique capacity of the regime to manufacture the passive conformity of dissident intellectuals. This helped to legitimize largely repressive state actions in the name of the fight against terrorism and religious extremism operating mainly the police and other security organizations. Despite her consolidated power, she was finally ousted and fled to India on August 5, 2024 in the midst of a mass uprising led by unprecedented students. Now India does not want to extradite it.
Such cooptation can be described as an “intellectual honey trap”, where academics are subtly invited to put on state accounts under the pretext of national security. In Bangladesh, research on extremism has often been oriented towards the validation of government policies rather than critically examine their implications. Researchers have been encouraged to focus on ideological factors behind radicalization while avoiding systemic criticism, such as the role of state repression or structural inequalities. In Bangladesh, the sadly famous August 21, 2004, the attack on Granada against the Hasina rally has become the cornerstone of the story of the fight against terrorism. The AL posted the tragedy to supervise the opposition The Nationalist Party of Bangladesh (BNP) as a terrorist organization and religious traders to consolidate the political advantage.
The judicial processes, widely criticized as politically influenced, have anchored more the story, allowing the government of Hasina to erode democratic institutions and to manipulate the electoral processes. The spectrum of Islamic fundamentalism also served as a practical tool to consolidate power. Hasina positioned himself as the only guardian of secularism, the brand image of opposition parties such as BNP as existential threats to national stability, because her disciples are often heard singing “as long as Sheikh Hasina directs the nation, Bangladesh will not lose her way.
Under the pretext of the fight against terrorism, the Hasina government has notably extended the rapid action battalion (RAB) which was initially established to combat crime and extremism by the BNP is more and more or political repression tools often called death squad. These actions have been supervised in a national security account, reinforced by intellectual discourse aligned with state policies. Substantial state investments in the research and counterterrorism research and training institutions have provided a semblance of legitimacy but have often been used for two ends: consolidate state control and encourage intellectual compliance. For example, the budget of the Ministry of Finance of 2023 for counter-terrorism included projects to modernize the technological capacities of RAB. International collaborations have facilitated training programs.
His government constantly portrays opposition demonstrations as extremist acts and abolished dissidents, in particular to obtain electoral advantages, marking these movements, because reforms and responsibility have been rejected to justify violent repression of their movements. Although there have been visible Islamic festivals – for example, Qawwali a kind of Muslim devotion songs sung mainly by Sufi faithful – and rallies after the fall of Hasina, criticisms argue that these were largely symbolic which arose from the absence of previous opportunities to engage in religious activities. These events were mainly performative, mainly intended to counter the account of anti-Islamists. Consequently, the country has not yet attended a significant increase in Islamist fundamentalism, which has apparently refuted the argument of pro-regime intellectuals that Islamist terrorists would take control of the nation if Sheikh Hasina was not in power.
In Bangladesh, anti -terrorist accounts have often been politicized, serving as tools to remove the opposition and legitimize the authoritarian regime. Researchers aligned by the state and independent often interpret a landscape shaped by these politicized stories. This dynamic reflects wider trends in intellectual cooptation, where research against terrorism is supervised to validate government policies, expanding systemic criticism such as state repression or structural inequalities. In this regard, anti-terrorism born in Bangladesh and the intellectuals of violent religious extremism have made important contributions to the understanding of these critical problems. The intellectual landscape in Bangladesh includes influential thinkers who are recognized for their independent work and their criticism of the Hasina regime, as well as those perceived as aligning with him. However, the two groups seem to be influenced by an “anti -terrorist honey trap”. This dynamic is largely motivated by research subsidies, aspirations for academic recognition, the pursuit of influential positions and the tendency to populism.
This dynamic reflects the trends of other populist regimes. In Türkiye, for example, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used accounts to fight terrorism to suppress dissent, targeting academics under accusations of promoting “terrorist propaganda”. Similarly, in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken advantage of national security problems to stifle dissent, as arundhati roy underlines in Azadi. However, Bangladesh stands out for the magnitude of intellectual compliance, with the AL which has managed to supervise its actions as a defense of secularism – an ideal deeply rooted in the identity of the country. In the midst of generalized accusations of Islamization, the current government of Dr. Yunus reaffirmed its firm position against any form of extremism on March 7 in Dacca. The authorities responsible for the application of laws have deployed batons, gaps and sound grenades to disperse the members of the Hizb Ut-Tahrir prohibited while they were trying to stage a walking march for Khilafat, highlighting the unwavering “ zero ” ” non-bar.
In conclusion, the intellectual “honey trap” shaped by the policy of fighting terrorism undermines democracy and human rights by co -opting academics in state accounts, compromising their independence and normalizing authoritarian practices. The exhaust of this trap requires moral courage, integrity and a commitment to truth and justice. Researchers must contest state propaganda, defend transparency in research and resist incentives related to government agendas. The fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime highlights the non-durability of the use of counter-terrorism to justify repression and manipulate intellectual discourse. This serves as a brutal reminder of the need to maintain academic and intellectual purism on opportunistic activities and to resist the cooptation focused on the state to preserve democratic values.
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