Moinuddin Ruhi is a Bangladeshi politician,best known for his role in Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh. He served as a founding member and Joint Secretary-General of the organization,and also held the same position in the Islami Oikya Jote. He was a key organizer of the 2013 Siege of Dhaka,which ended in a massacre at Shapla Square. Following this,internal disputes emerged,with some leaders blaming him for mismanagement and calling for his removal.[1] He was also regarded as being close to Anas Madani's bloc,an internal faction known for promoting closer ties with the Awami League government,in contrast to the group's earlier oppositional stance. Reports indicated that he also explored seat-sharing arrangements with the ruling party for parliamentary elections. These moves intensified internal opposition,and during student protests at Hathazari demanding Madani's dismissal,Ruhi was beaten by demonstrators. After this protest in 2020,a delegate conference formally removed him from Hefazat's leadership,and subsequent efforts to reorganize the group under his and Madani's direction failed due to limited support.[2]
Role in the establishment of Hefazat and its early developments
Moinuddin Ruhi (second from left) meets President Abdul Hamid as part of an Islami Oikya Jote delegation in 2016
Moinuddin Ruhi was the founding Joint Secretary-General of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[3] The organization entered national politics in 2013 when it opposed the Shahbagh protests through an open letter titled An Open Letter from Shah Ahmad Shafi to the Government and the Public. Ruhi later stated that he was part of the three-member drafting team for the document.[3] Shortly afterward,Hefazat announced a 13-point demand during a long march in Dhaka,which Ruhi also claimed to have drafted.[3] At the time,he described Shahbagh activists as adversaries of Islam and argued that although Hefazat was not a political party,it sought to establish Islamic governance in Bangladesh.[4] He further explained that while Bangladesh was a Muslim-majority state,it was not an Islamic state,and that such a status would only be achieved if Islamic political parties came to power.[5] When the government did not respond to the 13-point demand,Hefazat declared a large-scale protest known as the Siege of Dhaka on 5 May 2013. A preparatory meeting was held the previous day in Lalbagh,chaired by Nur Hossain Qasmi,followed by another meeting where leaders,including Ruhi,decided on an overnight sit-in at Shapla Square. The program concluded with the security operation later described as the Shapla Square massacre.[6]
On 8 May 2013,police filed cases against Hefazat leaders,accusing Ruhi of assisting activists from Jamaat-e-Islami,Chhatra Shibir,and the BNP-led 18-party alliance in attacks on police installations.[7] After the incident,Ruhi went into hiding and reappeared publicly around six months later. During this period,sections of Hefazat accused him of mismanagement and called for his removal. Some central leaders argued that the 13-point movement lost momentum due to the actions of Ruhi and several others.[1] Before Hefazat's conference on 21 September 2013 at Babunagar madrasa,his opponents distributed leaflets demanding his expulsion. He was later forced to leave the conference venue,and his name was excluded from the 25-member Majlish-e-Shura,the organization's highest policymaking body.[1] Although he faced criticism,Ruhi retained influence because of his close ties to Anas Madani,son of Hefazat chief Shah Ahmad Shafi. Opponents were reportedly reluctant to challenge him directly for this reason.[1] A senior Hefazat leader from Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon alleged that Ruhi had accepted benefits from the government in exchange for cooperation.[8]
In 2015,amid political tensions between the Awami League and the BNP-led alliance,Ruhi urged both coalitions to begin dialogue without preconditions and suggested that Hefazat could mediate if necessary.[9] In 2017,he announced that Hefazat would once again march to Shapla Square if the government did not remove a statue from the Supreme Court premises,though Secretary-General Junaid Babunagari later stated that this was Ruhi's personal statement rather than the organization's.[10] By 2018,media reports indicated growing divisions between the faction led by Ruhi,Anas Madani,and Fayez Ullah,and much of the wider Hefazat leadership. Around the same time,Ruhi was reported to have sought electoral seat-sharing arrangements with the ruling Awami League. Hefazat leader Izharul Islam Chowdhury further accused him of receiving undue advantages from the government.[11]
Aftermath of the Hathazari protest
Ruhi (right) attended a conference on the life and legacy of Shah Ahmad Shafi at the Chittagong Press Club
Following internal disputes within Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh,student protests erupted at Darul Uloom Hathazari,the organization's headquarters. The protesters demanded the removal of Shah Ahmad Shafi and his son,Anas Madani,from their positions. During the demonstrations,Ruhi was present inside the madrasa and was reportedly assaulted by the protesting students. The students accused him of being an associate of Anas Madani and alleged that he was attempting to create disorder in various Qawmi madrasas.[12] After the protests and the death of Shah Ahmad Shafi,Hefazat leaders sought to reorganize the organization. A delegate conference was convened at Darul Uloom Hathazari in Chittagong on 15 November 2020 to elect a new leadership. Opponents of the conference had already become active,with Ruhi reportedly leading the opposition and publicly criticizing the event.[13] The conference established a new 151-member central committee,appointing Junaid Babunagari as Amir,Nur Hossain Qasmi as Secretary-General,and removing Ruhi from his position. Ruhi rejected the legitimacy of the conference,stating that it had been conducted unilaterally,with invitations not extended to 65 members of Hefazat's central committee. He described the process as undemocratic and illegitimate,asserting that his faction considered itself the true continuation of Hefazat.[14] Subsequently,he alleged that Shah Ahmad Shafi had been deliberately killed and demanded the formation of a judicial inquiry to investigate the circumstances of his death.[15]
In March 2021,when Hefazat launched anti-Modi protests,Ruhi described the movement as lacking clear objectives.[16] He rejected the Babunagari-led committee and,in April,engaged with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan regarding the formation of a new committee.[17] Following the anti-Modi protests,the government reactivated previous cases against Hefazat leaders,leading to the arrests of leaders elected in the 15 November conference,while Ruhi and other expelled leaders were not detained.[18] Ruhi criticized the Babunagari committee,stating that it had placed the ulama in confrontation with the government,whereas previous relations under Shafi had been cooperative.[19] He described the Babunagari-led committee as a 'family committee'.[20] Although Ruhi attempted to form an alternative committee alongside Anas Madani,the effort did not succeed due to insufficient support.[2] After the fall of the Awami League government in 2024,two murder cases were filed against Ruhi.[21][22] On 3 September,he was dismissed from his party role after the Islami Oikya Jote president resigned and disbanded all party committees.[23]
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