A Bangladeshi radicalized youth named Irfan Sadik, who currently studies at North South University (NSU) has been spreading jihadist propaganda through publications as well as social media such as Facebook and video-sharing sites such as YouTube.
In a video published on YouTube on April 3, 2023, Irfan Sadik is heard terming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “nefarious butcher” and openly defending Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Afghan Taliban and Bangladesh’s pro-jihadist group Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI). He also condemned the Bangladesh government for “committing massacre” at HeI’s gathering in Dhaka in 2013.
A careful scrutiny of Irfan Sadik’s statements clearly prove – he is either affiliated with a militancy outfit named Hizbut Tahrir or even he may be connected with Islamic State or Al Qaeda. It may be mentioned here that, in the past several teachers and students of the North South University were arrested by the law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh on specific allegations of their involvement with Hizbut Tahrir and Islamic State.
Irfan Sadik clearly is against secularist and anti-militancy individuals in Bangladesh, while he spreads venom at the United States for “torturing Muslims and Al Qaeda members” at Guantamo Detention Center. He also is spreading propaganda targeting India and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Recently, Irfan Sadik has published a post on Facebook stating that the celebration of Bengali new year, which will take place on April 14, 2023 is “haram” while Baishakhi procession is equivalent to idolatry. Some Facebook users have accused Irfan Sadik of openly declaring jihadist attack on the Baishakhi procession on April 14. Immediately after this information started getting spread amongst the social media users, a shrewd Irfan Sadik quickly locked his Facebook profile so that no one can have access to it and see his past track records.
