Congressional Briefing Sounds Alarm on Bangladesh Religious Freedom as Islamist Forces Poised to Gain Power in this week's "elections"

WASHINGTON, DC — Monday, February 9 - HinduACTion and the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) hosted a congressional briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building, drawing more than 100 attendees from Washington, D.C., Michigan, Ohio, New York, and other states to address escalating threats to religious minorities in Bangladesh ahead of the country’s February 12 elections.

Keynote Dr. Michael Rubin Warns: "Religious freedom is always the canary in the coal mine."

The briefing featured keynote remarks from Dr. Michael Rubin, who issued a stark warning about Bangladesh’s political trajectory and its implications for Hindus and other minority communities and U.S. interests.

“Religious freedom is always the canary in the coal mine,” said Rubin. “Once tolerance is lost, it is extremely difficult to win it back.”

Rubin emphasized that Pakistan—the country Bangladesh fought a bloody war to gain independence from—once had a significant Hindu and Christian presence and cautioned against Bangladesh following a similar path of escalating intolerance. He noted that “Hindu holidays were state holidays, and official commemorations. Today, Christians and Hindus who might gather have targets on their backs. Pakistan has become one of the most intolerant societies on earth. Now, this is not what we want to see in Bangladesh.”

Referring to the tragic 1971 genocide in which nearly 3 million people were killed by the Pakistan Army and Jihadists from Jamaat-e-Islami, Rubin further added "I do note...as a historian, this is the first time I can think of, that a defeat of genocide is being reversed, and it really should be a wakeup call, because if you defeat genocide, and don't defeat the ideology that backs that genocide, it will re-emerge."

The congressional briefing also included visits from three Members of Congress, underscoring bipartisan concern over the deteriorating environment for pluralism and democratic participation in Bangladesh.

Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), a 25-year war veteran who fought against terrorism and extremism, emphasized the need to confront religiously motivated violence unequivocally. “Certainly, none of us support the killing of anyone for religious matters,” said Barrett.

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) highlighted increasing violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and warned that the February 12 elections will proceed without representation from the Awami League—former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party—after it was censored and banned. “Actions speak louder than words,” said Subramanyam, urging stronger U.S. engagement and stating that the elections in Bangladesh “are not truly free and fair.”

Former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit and the newest Board Member of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), warned in a pre-recorded video message that communal persecution carries grave demographic and economic consequences.

“If Bangladesh goes in the wrong direction, you’re going to see them drive out most of their religious minorities that are in the country,” said Brownback. “You’ll see a rapidly declining Hindu and Christian population… and that will lead to further harm to the Bangladeshi economy.” He added, “Anytime a country seeks to purify its religion by persecution or allowing communal violence, you see the economy go down. You see the people suffer.”

Staffers representing Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Congressman Mike Levin (D-CA), Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), Rep. David Min (D-CA), and diplomats also attended, reflecting broad interest from both legislative and diplomatic stakeholders.

Participants released a joint declaration calling for: 

• Convening an urgent oversight hearing by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to scrutinize the State Department’s engagement with Bangladesh since 2024.

• Designating Bangladesh as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under U.S. law for severe violations of religious freedom and violence against religious minorities.

• Imposing targeted sanctions on Bangladesh for undermining democracy and failing to protect Hindus and other religious minorities from systematic violence and persecution.

• Pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), designating Jamaat-e-Islami as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and launching a full investigation into its activities, including those of its affiliated proxy groups operating within the United States.

Shuvo Roy, an independent American Bangladeshi journalist, criticized the lack of sustained international press scrutiny and warned that impunity grows when democratic backsliding is minimized.

“The international media is dangerously under-covering what’s unfolding in Bangladesh,” said Roy. “You cannot call an election ‘free and fair’ when the country’s major political force, the Awami League, has been barred from participating. When journalists look away, bad behavior gets rewarded, and ordinary Bangladeshis pay the price.”

Dilip Nath, President, New America Voters Association, Arifa Rahman Ruma, Associate Professor, Bangladesh Open University, Former Counsellor (Political), Embassy of Bangladesh, Priya Saha, Executive Director, South Asian Minorities Collective, Rana Hassan Mahmud, Political Analyst, Columnist & Community Organizer and Farida Yasmin, President, National Press Club, Dhaka provided detailed and sobering accounts of the tragedy unfolding in Bangladesh following the August 2024 “regime change,” which resulted in the Islamist-backed Muhammad Yunus assuming power.

Their testimonies underscored the collapse of press freedom and the systematic, brutal violence directed at critics of the regime—most acutely targeting Hindus and other vulnerable minorities. They warned the White House of the severity of the national security threat that organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami pose not just to Indo-Pacific region but to the United States itself.

COHNA’s youth team—including many students from the Bangladeshi Hindu diaspora—shared firsthand accounts of the daily trauma their families endure, living under the constant threat of mob violence and lynching faced by their relatives in Bangladesh.

Adelle Nazarian, Director of Communications and Legislative Outreach for HinduACTion, underscored the moral and strategic imperative for U.S. leadership.

“Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of dignity. The presence of equal protection. The presence of a society where people are not hunted for what they believe, or silenced for who they are,” said Nazarian. "Bangladesh deserves that peace. Its Hindus deserve that protection. Its citizens deserve an election that is more than theater. And the United States, together with partners who still believe in pluralism, has the capacity, and I would argue the responsibility, to raise the cost of intimidation and lower the temperature of hatred.”

About HinduACTion

HinduACTion is a grassroots advocacy organization committed to defending human rights, advancing religious freedom, and promoting pluralism and dignity for all communities.