Trans feminist and rights activist Ho Chi Minh Islam has been dropped as a speaker from the fifth Bay of Bengal Conversation in Dhaka, following an online controversy over her participation in the international conference.
An official of the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), which organises the annual forum, confirmed to Daily Waadaa that Hi Chi Minh would no longer participate.
“It’s hundred percent sure that she’s no longer in the event. As the event is ongoing now, we will give our comments later,” CGS Director Subir Das told Waadaa.
Ho Chi Minh, who identifies herself as a trans-woman had been scheduled to speak on October 5, the final day of the three-day conference, in a session titled “Governing Diverse Societies”.
A source closely associated with the event, speaking on condition of anonymity, said CGS President Zillur Rahman personally called Ho Chi Minh and advised her not to participate.
The source said her scheduled appearance was subsequently cancelled, while her photograph and information about her participation were removed from conference promotional materials and its website.
However, Zillur disputed the characterisation of Ho Chi Minh as a speaker at the conference.
“Ho Chi Minh is not a speaker here,” he told Waadaa. He said she had instead been expected to take part in a closed-door event with no audience, consisting of a moderator and two speakers.
Asked whether Ho Chi Minh would now take part in that session, Zillur said, “No.”
He also denied that the decision had resulted from pressure or fears of a hostile gathering. “There has been no mob pressure, nobody came here,” he said.
The controversy began after National Citizen Party leader Md Sarjis Alam posted on Facebook about Ho Chi Minh's participation and claimed that Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, would be “sharing the stage” with transgender activists.
“The BNP and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman have brought back the phrase ‘full faith and trust in Almighty Allah’ to the Constitution. On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, is sharing the stage with homosexual/trans activists,” Sarjis wrote.
Sarjis invoked the Islamic account of the people of Prophet Lut and said religious people would take note of those who “implement, promote or facilitate” what he described as agendas undermining families, religion, society and the state.
“Homosexuality or the so-called transgender ‘disease’ should be treated and people should be rehabilitated, but there should be no indulgence or promotion,” he wrote.
He also alleged that several individuals and organisations, including Zillur, had promoted homosexuality for money and other interests.
The claim about Zubaida and Ho Chi Minh sharing a stage was subsequently challenged.
Shahadat Hossain Shadhin, a deputy press secretary to the prime minister, said in a Facebook post that the claim was “incorrect”.
A review of the conference programme also showed Zubaida scheduled to speak separately on October 5 in a session titled “The Measure of Progress: Dignity, Health and the Human Future”.
A fact-check published by The Dissent on Friday similarly found that the two were not scheduled to appear together.
Ho Chi Minh declined to discuss the development directly with Waadaa, saying she was “going through a lot”.
Her Facebook activity since the controversy, however, has addressed her removal repeatedly.
Sharing a report by the Facebook page Gonomanush that said organisers had prevented her from participating following online pressure, Ho Chi Minh asked: “Who gave in to the online mob’s pressure?”
She also shared a post by women rights activist A B M Mahmodul Hasan questioning why she had been invited in the first place if CGS was not prepared to deal with the likely reaction to her presence.
“Did Zillur Bhai really not know who Hochi was?” Hasan wrote.
“When Hochi was invited to the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026, Zillur Rahman Bhai must have known who she was and knowingly extended that invitation,” he wrote. “If her presence was always likely to lead to a debate — and if there was no willingness or capacity to tolerate, engage with, or handle that debate — then why put Hochi through this humiliation?”
Hasan said he would watch whether any of the other participants raised Ho Chi Minh's removal during the conference.
“I do not expect anyone to boycott the event in protest over what happened to Hochi,” he wrote. “But I will be waiting to see whether anyone at least has the courage to speak up about it.”
Ho Chi Minh shared the post accompanied by a heart and folded-hands emojis.
She also shared a post by Farhana Hafiz, a gender expert who works at UN Women. Farhana questioned the decision to invite a transgender representative to a conference of international stature, publicise that person's transgender identity and then remove her after “some jackals” objected.
Ho Chi Minh's most direct response came in a post on her verified Facebook page.
“The exclusion of transgender people in Bangladesh is brutal,” she wrote.
“From classrooms and workplaces to public platforms, we are repeatedly denied space, dignity and opportunity. Even our voices are removed in the name of our safety, while intimidation goes unanswered.”
“How much more must we endure simply for being ourselves?” she added.
“Bangladesh belongs to us too.”
The Bay of Bengal Conversation is an annual international strategic dialogue hosted by CGS in Dhaka.
The fifth edition is being held from October 3 to 5 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon under the theme “Fragments, Frontiers & Futures: Navigating Power, Technology and Trust in a World Rewritten.”
The conference brings together political leaders, policymakers, diplomats, military officials, business executives, academics, journalists, technology specialists and civil society representatives, with discussions spanning geopolitics, security, governance, technology, trade, climate and the wider Indo-Pacific.
CGS says this year's conference has around 200 speakers, more than 300 delegates and over 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the event on Saturday.
Ho Chi Minh has participated in CGS programmes before.
In January, ahead of the February 12 general election, she participated in two CGS policy dialogues — one concerning women's leadership, gender equality and political commitments and another on electoral commitments, inclusive democracy and minority rights.
Ho Chi Minh is a Bangladeshi trans feminist, transgender and sexual-rights activist and a registered nurse.
Assigned male at birth, she later embraced a transgender identity and identifies herself as a woman.
She founded Krishnachura, a community-based organisation that works to create spaces for dialogue among gender minorities, particularly in rural Bangladesh.
Ho Chi Minh has also been an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) fellow, a professional exchange programme of the US State Department.
She previously worked as a nurse at Square Hospital and has been involved in transgender and gender-minority advocacy in Bangladesh for several years.
The latest controversy is not the first time her participation in a public event has been challenged.
In 2023, Ho Chi Minh was scheduled to speak at a career event at North South University but was ultimately prevented from participating after opposition to her appearance, with concerns about her safety cited at the time.
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