The Kalema flag campaign Bangladesh has become a serious public question. This article is not against the Kalema or Islam. The Kalema is sacred to Muslims. The real question is who is turning a sacred religious phrase into street flags, motorcycle showdowns, online campaigns, and political power displays.
In recent weeks, black-and-white flags carrying the Kalema have appeared in different parts of Bangladesh. They have been seen on roads, bridges, flyovers, rallies, motorcycle processions, and online marketplaces. This sudden spread has created an important question: is this only religious emotion, or is there an organised political message behind it?
According to bdnews24, these flags appeared across roads, bridges, and flyovers, while groups carrying them marched in several districts and staged motorcycle processions. (bdnews24.com)
The first important point is simple. Bangladesh has a long tradition of football enthusiasm. During World Cup seasons, many people fly the flags of Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and other teams. For many years, this was treated as entertainment. But this time, a new message appeared: instead of foreign football flags, people should fly Kalema flags.
According to bdnews24, a video of Mufti Harun Izhar spread on social media. In that video, he was heard telling people to place Kalema flags everywhere, and that wherever Argentina and Brazil flags were placed, Kalema flags should also be placed. bdnews24 also reported that religion-based Facebook pages promoted the flags and claimed Harun Bin Izhar supported flying them.
The matter did not remain online. bdnews24 reported that on the night of 17 June 2026, a group of young men placed black-and-white flags on the railing of the Hanif Flyover near Shonir Akhra in Dhaka. One man reportedly went live from the flyover and warned that if anyone removed the flags, they would be forced to take “hard action.”
This is where the real question begins.
How did one speech become a visible campaign across roads, bridges, rallies, online pages, and marketplaces so quickly? Who printed the flags? Who sold them? Who promoted them online? Who organised the motorcycle rallies? Who placed the flags at night? And who gave people the confidence to warn others not to remove them?
AFP reported that Bangladesh police were on alert after supporters of Mufti Harun Izhar raised Islamic flags across the country during the World Cup season. Police spokesman Shahadat Hossain told AFP that the police were monitoring the situation and said, “We are on alert.” (NAMPA)
Some reports said the flags appeared in more than a dozen districts and that police would intervene if the displays threatened public order. (Emirate Radio) India Today also reported that black-and-white Kalema flags appeared during the World Cup season and raised concern because similar visual symbols have been associated with groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. (India Today)
This does not mean every Kalema flag is proof of militancy. That would be wrong. The Kalema itself is sacred. But in modern militant politics, black-and-white flags with Islamic declarations have been used by groups such as ISIS, al-Qaeda-linked groups, and other jihadist movements. TIME explained that the ISIS black flag uses the Islamic declaration of faith, and similar black banners have appeared among other jihadist movements. (India Today)
So the concern is not the Kalema. The concern is the political use of a sacred phrase in a form that looks like a street movement, a show of strength, and a challenge to public order.
Now we must ask: who is Mufti Harun Izhar?
Mufti Harun Izhar is not only a religious speaker. He is a well-known figure linked with Hefazat-e-Islam and the Lalkhan Bazar madrasa in Chattogram. The Daily Star described him as the education and cultural affairs secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam’s dissolved central committee, and reported that RAB arrested him in 2021 over violence during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. (bdnews24.com)
His past has been controversial for many years. The Asian Age reported that his lawyer said he was facing 26 cases and had secured bail in all of them. The same report also mentioned that Harun Izhar had been arrested in November 2009 in Chattogram with two suspected foreign militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and that there were allegations of a plot to attack the Indian High Commission and the US Embassy. (bdnews24.com)
The Daily Star later reported, quoting a Chattogram police official, that Harun Izhar was accused in 28 cases, including 11 cases filed in Chattogram over the 2021 anti-Modi protests. The report also said he was released on bail in those cases. (bdnews24.com)
Prothom Alo reported in 2021 that Harun Izhar was wanted in 11 cases and had previously served jail time in a case related to the Lalkhan Bazar madrasa grenade attack. It also reported that he was wanted in three more cases linked to Hefazat violence in Dhaka in 2013. (Daily Sun)
One of the most serious incidents connected with his name is the 2013 Lalkhan Bazar madrasa explosion. Prothom Alo reported that on 7 October 2013, an explosion occurred in a room of a four-storey hostel at Jamiatul Ulum Islami Madrasa in Lalkhan Bazar, killing three people, including two students, and injuring several others. Police later recovered explosive-making materials, 18 bottles of acid, and four unexploded grenades from the surrounding areas. (Prothomalo)
Dhaka Tribune reported that after the Lalkhan Bazar blast, police recovered hand grenades, materials for making grenades, and 18 bottles of picric acid. Three cases were filed: one under the Explosive Substances Act, one under the Acid Control Act, and one for murder. (Prothomalo)
In 2021, after violence linked to the anti-Modi protests, reports said Harun Izhar was arrested in connection with Hefazat violence. The Daily Star reported that he was arrested by RAB in Chattogram, while other reports said he faced multiple cases connected with Hefazat-related violence. (bdnews24.com)
It is also important to be clear about what should not be said. I did not find verified evidence in the Holey Artisan case verdict or known convict lists showing Harun Izhar’s direct involvement in the Holey Artisan attack. AP reported that the 2016 Holey Artisan attack killed 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, and that seven militants were convicted in the case. The case was linked to JMB/Neo-JMB, not to Harun Izhar. (bdnews24.com)
So it would be wrong and risky to say he was directly involved in Holey Artisan. But it is fair to say that his name has repeatedly appeared in news reports involving allegations of extremist links, explosions, Hefazat violence, and security-related cases.
That is why his call to place Kalema flags everywhere cannot be treated as just an ordinary religious speech.
This is the key issue: when a religious phrase is taken from the heart and placed into a street campaign, it becomes political. When people place flags on flyovers and warn others not to remove them, it becomes a public order issue. When the same symbol is promoted through pages, sold online, and carried in rallies, it becomes a network question.
The state should not only remove flags. The state should investigate the network behind the campaign.
Who planned it? Who printed the flags? Who financed it? Who sold them online? Which Facebook pages promoted it? Which groups organised the motorcycle rallies? Which local actors placed the flags on roads and bridges? And who is using religious emotion to build political power?
This investigation is necessary not because the Kalema is the problem. The investigation is necessary because the Kalema is being used.
Bangladesh must protect religious freedom. Muslims have the right to love and honour the Kalema. But nobody should be allowed to turn the Kalema into a political weapon, a tool of intimidation, or a symbol of street power.
Bangladesh is a country of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Indigenous peoples, and many cultural traditions. If religious symbols are used to dominate public space and create fear, then it becomes a national concern for every community.
The most dangerous part is not the flag itself. The danger begins when people stop asking questions because the flag carries sacred words.
A sacred word should not be used to silence citizens.
The Kalema belongs in faith. But when it is taken into a power march, it becomes politics. And when politics wears the clothes of religion, the country must be alert.
To protect the honour of the Kalema, Bangladesh must first stop the political misuse of the Kalema.
Editor’s note: This article is not against the Kalema or Islam. The Kalema is sacred to Muslims. This article questions the political use of a sacred religious phrase in public rallies, street campaigns, motorcycle showdowns, and power displays.