Press Release
South Asia is at a Historical Crossroads between Moving Towards Second Rightly-Guided Khilafah and Continuing Previous Systems with New Faces

The brave Muslims of Bangladesh, through a wave of protests, forced Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of the country, to flee in disgrace after a long period of oppressive and colonial rule, bringing an end to her dark reign.

We congratulate the Muslims of Bangladesh on this historic moment, seeing it as a great opportunity and the beginning of an awakening not only in Bangladesh but across South Asia. Without a doubt, the political developments of the past three years in South Asia can be compared to the “Arab Spring.” The U.S. shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan, the fragile political and security situation in Pakistan, and now the changes in Bangladesh have put the region to a historical test. In this critical moment, we deem the following points and lessons noteworthy:

Western colonial powers are trying to derail this great opportunity for change, a long-standing desire of the people of Bangladesh and all of South Asia, by changing faces. The main problem lies in the governance system of nation-states over Islamic lands, and changing faces will not solve the problem.

Just as with the onset of the Arab Spring, when Ben Ali fled Tunisia but no improvement occurred because the system remained unchanged, Hosni Mubarak was ousted in Egypt but conditions worsened because the same system brought a more oppressive and treacherous individual like Sisi to power. In Pakistan, too, changes in civilian and military leadership occurred, but since the corrupt colonial system remained intact, political, security, and economic conditions worsened. This experience of changing faces in various forms has also been repeated in Afghanistan. Therefore, the Muslim people of Bangladesh must learn from such historical mistakes and not allow this thirst for change to be quenched by replacing a few faces. Colonial powers are trying with various tricks to maintain their influence in Bangladesh by bringing in new faces without changing the nature of the system.

The lesson from such events is that the roots of power must lie deep within society; otherwise, such governments will not endure.

For this reason, Islam considers the only legitimate source of power to be allegiance (bay’ah). However, the Bangladeshi government operated based on single-party politics and tyranny, relying heavily on relationships with foreign powers. Another lesson is the “economy-oriented” policy of the Bangladeshi government, which shows that society cannot be advanced solely by the economy, especially a capitalist one, as people need not only material values but also spiritual, moral, and human values. Due to the mismatch between the government’s policies and the people’s values, governance led to corruption.

The crucial point is that if popular uprisings are not based on a fundamental principle and thought, they will go astray and be fruitless.

Historical experiences have shown that Muslims have always been successful in defeating occupiers and overthrowing tyrannical regimes but have failed in the stage of system-building and governance. Therefore, the desire of the majority of Muslims in Bangladesh and all Muslims in South Asia is to establish a Second Rightly-Guided Khilafah and governance based on Islam. Muslims in Bangladesh should not let the opportunity, achieved after years of struggle and countless sacrifices, slip away with deceptive democratic slogans and without fundamental changes in the nature of the system. Thus, the people of power in the region should unite and use this opportunity to lay the foundation of Second Rightly-Guided Khilafah, as any other system without Khilafah will result in continued occupation, colonialism, crisis, and dictatorship.

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَجِيبُواْ لِلّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُم لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ]

“O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall ( all ) be gathered.” [Al-Anfal – 24]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan