The Bangladesh Army has formed the ‘2nd Bangladesh Battalion’ with four companies named after the four caliphs of Islam: Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA), Hazrat Umar (RA), Hazrat Usman (RA), and Hazrat Ali (RA).
Two additional companies have been proposed as the army’s first all-female companies, to be named after Hazrat Fatima (RA), the Prophet’s daughter, and Hazrat Aisha (RA), the Prophet’s wife. The proposal has not yet been approved.
The decision has drawn critical coverage from Indian media outlets. Aaj Tak Bangla described the decision as ‘sensitive’ and ‘negative,’ framing it as a significant ideological shift rather than a routine administrative matter.
Several Indian outlets drew comparisons with the Liberation War tradition, noting that army units had previously been named after Bir Shreshtha recipients — the highest military honor from the 1971 war — and suggesting the change indicated Bangladesh was moving away from its founding secular principles.
Navbharat Times published a headline asking whether the army chief was ‘forming an Islamic army,’ while Northeast News described the naming as ‘a sign of growing Islamisation within the rank and file.’
However, analysts note that the Indian Army itself has units named after Hindu deities and religious symbols. India’s 17 Corps is known as the Brahmastra Corps, the 21 Corps as the Sudarshan Chakra Corps, the 33 Corps as the Trishakti Corps, and the 11 Corps as the Vajra Corps. In January this year, an Indian Army elite battalion was named the ‘Bhairav Battalion,’ after a fierce form of the Hindu deity Shiva.
Brahmastra — one of the most powerful divine weapons in Hindu mythology, referenced extensively in the Mahabharata and Ramayana — directly invokes the deity Brahma and is used as a supreme symbol of military power.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report