Islamic Revolutionary Army: The new militia threat to Bangladesh and South Asia

By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

A spectre is gathering strength inside Bangladesh – not in whispered rumors but in open social-media proclamations, organizational directives and public speeches. What began as campus agitation and partisan mobilization has, according to a string of posts and statements now circulating online, moved rapidly toward paramilitary reality: the creation of an “Islamic Revolutionary Army” (IRA) – a militia force being assembled under the patronage of forces loyal to Muhammad Yunus and backed by foreign intelligence ties. Such project is not simply an internal security concern; it is a regional threat that risks inflaming communal violence, exporting terror to neighboring countries and triggering a dangerous cycle of proxy warfare across South Asia.

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