After NCP resignation, Samanta Shermeen faces misinformation on religious identity and gender-based attacks

Soon after announcing her resignation from the National Citizen Party (NCP), the party’s joint convener Samanta Shermeen became the target of attacks on social media. Claims circulated that she had previously been Hindu. Her old photographs were also used to mock her clothing, personal life and political views. Comments on these posts included sexually suggestive remarks and gender-based attacks. Samanta Shermeen told Dismislab that she was born into a Muslim family. In her view, attempts to tarnish women’s reputations are often the first line of attack against them.

On the evening of November 5, Samanta Shermeen announced her resignation from the NCP in a Facebook post. In the post, she criticized the party’s decision to form an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and contest the election in an alliance with a major political party. She also differed with the NCP over recognition of women’s role in the mass uprising, lack of women’s participation in leadership and decision-making, and the restructuring of the party committee without holding a council. She resigned after repeatedly raising objections to these issues without any change in the party’s position.

About an hour after her resignation announcement, a Facebook page named “Benzen” published a post claiming Samanta had previously been Hindu.

Claim that she was ‘previously Hindu’; Samanta says she was born into a Muslim family

A Facebook page named “Benzen” published a post with the caption, “Samanta Shermeen was Hindu before. While she was Hindu, she frequently associated with the Shahbaghis (Shahbagh activist) in Shahbagh. She is a leftist. While studying, she fell in love with a Muslim boy. Later, she converted to Islam and married him. But what difference does it make if she got married or converted to Islam? Her mindset was already settled with the left.”

“Shahbagi” is a pejororative political term used in Bangladesh. It originated from the 2013 Shahbag movement in Dhaka. The movement took place at Dhaka’s Shahbag demanding the death penalty for Abdul Quader Molla, a convicted war criminal and leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

At 11:51pm that same day, the page published another post. It included several old photographs of Samanta, claiming they were taken when she studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka. She appeared without a hijab in the photographs. The post again claimed that she had previously been Hindu and she herself had written about it on Facebook.

At the time of Dismislab’s observation, the first post had received more than 15,000 reactions, over 900 comments and more than 400 shares. The second post, which included her old photographs, had received more than 4,000 reactions, over 400 comments and more than 150 shares.

Another page named “Abdullah Al Mamun” made the same claim. A post featuring a collage of photographs of Samanta Shermeen and Tasnim Jara included comments about Samanta’s religious identity and political views. It said, “To understand Samanta Shermeen’s complaint, one needs to understand her background. She has been a person with Shahbagh leftist thinking from the very beginning. Samanta Shermeen was Hindu before. While she was Hindu, she frequently associated with the Shahbagh activists in Shahbagh. She is a leftist…” The post was shared more than 300 times.

A post from a page named “Rita Faria Richi” also initially claimed that Samanta had previously been Hindu. The post was later edited to say that she had been somewhat atheistic in her personal life and had returned to Islam after marrying a Muslim man. The post received more than 1,000 reactions.

In addition, a page named “Hamidullah Belali” published a post claiming that Samanta had previously been Hindu. Its caption read, “Even though she is Muslim, Allah has not guided her to the right path. Now I understand why she is against Jamaat. She is a Shahbagh woman.” An identical graphic was also published by another page named “Kausar Alam” in a post.

However, Samanta Shermeen told Dismislab that she had never been Hindu. “That is not true. I was born into a Muslim family,” she said.

Regarding the old photographs in which she appeared without a hijab, she said that she followed a different lifestyle at the time and therefore did not cover her head.

Mockery over her clothing and personal life

Samanta’s old photographs were also used to attack her over her clothing and personal life.

At 10:49pm on November 5, a page named “Sinthiya Orthi” published a post featuring several old photographs of Samanta. The caption mocked her over claims that her clothing and appearance had changed after August 5. The post was shared more than 400 times and received over 200 comments.

The caption read, “Changing its appearance does not turn a crow into a peacock. A Shahbaghi will always be a Shahbaghi! Shahbaghi Samanta Shermeen is a big hypocrite.” The post further said, “She used to dress like the Shahbaghis in Shahbagh, but as soon as August 5 happened, Samanta Shermeen changed her appearance. Why did she do that? Was there any connection between August 5 and how she dressed? Did anyone even remotely say that if August 5 happened, women would have to wear burqas or hijabs? Shahbaghi Samanta Shermeen from the Faculty of Fine Arts turned into a mollah after August 5. She started covering her head…”

Two other pages, named “Abdul Baten Faruqi” and “Tania Rahman,” also published posts using the same caption and old photographs. Abdul Baten Faruqi’s post received more than 650 reactions and over 100 shares. A post from the verified page named “Tania Rahman” received more than 100 reactions and over 30 shares.

On June 21, 2024, Samanta had written in a Facebook post: “Seven months ago, in September last year, I recognized Islam as my religion. My story is not one of gradually transforming after living in the world like a disbeliever while taking advantage of the fact that I was born into a Muslim family. Allah has removed me from the paths of the lost, the misguided and their followers, and accepted me as one of His obedient servants. But it was only after this blessing from Allah that I began to see things differently. The world’s calculations have changed. Now, let alone admiring those who travel the path of respectability, I cannot even tolerate them. Yet this, too, seems to me to be a blessing from Allah. For I have received, even if only a tiny fraction, the distress and trials faced by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him).”

This post predates the July mass uprising. In other words, her religious outlook had changed before August 5, 2024.

Gender-based attacks in comments; Samanta says women are targeted more often

An analysis of comments on the posts collected by Dismislab found various forms of gender-based attacks targeting Samanta Shermeen. Some comments compared her to former pornographic actress Mia Khalifa. Other users made sexually explicit remarks about her sex life, implying that she was a sex worker.

In some comments, the political label “Shahbaghi” was distorted and used as a misogynistic slur. Other comments attacked her with sexually suggestive language by referring to her possible political ties with the BNP.

Speaking to Dismislab, Samanta Shermeen said that she had faced the influence of conservative politics since August 5. She also believes that women are more frequently subjected to such attacks.

“This happens much more often to women. The first attempt is usually to attack women. If someone does not have the capacity to deal with it, even more outrageous claims or comments are made,” she said.

Samanta believes that when some sections of conservative politics cannot counter women politically, they resort to tactics such as character assassination.

(All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.)