Protesting NH HR 11 – the Resolution on Bangladesh
A protest urging New Hampshire to Set the Record Straight!
Background
The Bangladesh America Alliance, New Hampshire Peace Action, and members of the Bangladeshi community of New England came together in Concord, NH on May 22nd , 2025 to protest House Resolution 11 (HR 11), passed by the New Hampshire state legislature on Feb 13, 2025. HR 11 misrepresents the current political situation and people of Bangladesh, and was championed by Representative Aboul Khan who has been affiliated with the New England wing of the ousted Awami League, who’s autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina fled the country in disgrace in Aug 2024.
Read more about HR 11 in the “What to Know: Details of HR 11 ” section on this page!
Our Advocacy
The May 22nd protest event was a culmination of a broad set of awareness and advocacy efforts we led to educate people about the disinformation inherent in HR11. These included:
Podcast on NH HR11: In response to NH HR11, we used our weekly podcast—reaching over 10,000 viewers on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn—to expose the resolution’s false portrayal of Bangladesh’s July 2024 revolution as extremist, and to highlight concerns about lead sponsor Aboul Khan’s ties to the Awami League. Shafiqul Alam, Senior Press Secretary to Bangladesh’s interim government- who was also in the audience, praised the podcast as informative and actionable. We also urged listeners to counter disinformation by contacting legislators and staying informed on other disinformation efforts.
Community and Media Partnerships: We partnered with human rights organization New Hampshire Peace Action and built a broad working group consisting of members and allies of the Bangladeshi community across New England, and engaged WMUR, the local media station, and Bangladeshi news channel Centrist TV to cover our event. You can find links to the media coverage from WMUR and Centrist Nation in the media section below
May 22nd Protest Event: We organized our protest event on Mar 22,d at the New Hampshire State House in Concord, New Hampshire. In spite of the pouring rain, we had an extensive agenda and participation from NH lawmakers, NH Peace Action, and members and friends of the Bangladeshi community of New England. Watch snippets from our protest:
NH Representative Jodi Newell spoke on the House floor at the May 22nd session on HR 11. She spoke out about how they were not presented with critical information, particularly about the blatant human rights abuses of the ousted Awami league, when HR 11 was introduced to the New Hampshire house floor. A motion was successfully made to place Rep. Newell’s remarks in the permanent journal- a meaningful way to document the dissent and issues with HR 11. Watch from 4:24:20
Terri O Rourke, New Hampshire State Representative, joined our protest, and echoed the same sentiments as Rep. Jodi Newell- speaking about how the critical information was not provided to representatives, including the human rights abuses of the ousted Awami League
We even had an appearance from Rep Aboul Khan– who was the rep that drafted HR 1, even showed up to take pictures of our protest! Watch videos of our protest event here!!!
The event also included remarks from Mohammed Saleh, Chair of Cheshire County Democratic party in New Hampshire, and Jon Danilowicz, former Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States of America in Bangladesh. All videos can be found here
Awareness-building with the NH House speaker and 50+ New Hampshire State Reps: We also handed over an information packet, documenting our dissent with HR 11, along with a copy of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report on July 2024
Media Coverage
Centrist TV: Comprehensive coverage by Centrist TV, Bangladesh’s first fully English language news channel
WMUR 9: Coverage by WMUR 9, the ABC-affiliated news channel covering the New Hampshire area
Social Media
Youtube channel | X: Pre Event; Post Event | Facebook: Pre Event, Post Event |
What to Know: Details of HR 11
– Issue 1: HR 11 claims that the election of January 7, 2024 “caused the peaceful country of Bangladesh to elect a peaceful government (with Prime Minister Sheikha Hasina)”: This is false. The 2024 election of Sheikh Hasina was not deemed as free OR fair by the US State Department, OR any other election observers, including the European Union.
– Issue 2: HR 11 claims Sheikh Hasina’s government was overthrown by a “so-called student uprising supported by Islamic fundamentalists that is hostile to religious minorities”. This statement is categorically false. There is unanimous recognition from the U.S. State Department, that this was a student and civilian-led protest. In fact, this year, Secretary Marco Rubio and First Lady Melania Trump recognized the revolution, and provided the Bangladeshi women protestors with the “2025 Madeleine Albright Honorary Group International Women Of Courage” Award”.
– Issue 3: HR 11 points to politically motivated violence against various pro-Hasina factions in August 2024, and inaccurately extrapolates it as state sponsored persecution of minority populations. This is debunked by globally known independent fact checking organizations such as Rumor Scanner and Tech Global Institute.
– Issue 4: The resolution claims that the current interim government of Bangladesh is engaging in cultural erasure by “canceling national holidays and renaming institutions”. This is false. The changes to national holidays and plaques it references were made to honor the innocent lives lost during the July-August 2024 revolution. Similarly, public holidays were adjusted, replacing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birthday with a commemoration of the July revolution. This is not cultural or historical erasure, but a sovereign nation acting to honor its fallen citizens. It is bizarre that the NH House would comment on such day-to-day matters of a sovereign nation, and frame it as insidious in nature.
