Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam today said that political parties appear eager for conflict ahead of the upcoming election.

"Everyone seems eager for conflict, and you will see it unfold within a few months," he said, adding that the situation in Bangladesh could worsen if a religious dimension is added to it.

He made the remarks this morning at BM Bhaban in Dhaka's Segunbagicha during a national dialogue titled "Mazar Culture: Violence, Crisis, and Future Thinking".

The event was organised by Maqam, a research platform focused on the Sufi community, where the information adviser attended as the chief guest.

The adviser said that while state-level fascism may have ended, traces of social fascism still persist.

He warned that without fostering dialogue and connections among the streams of Islam in the country, the state would continue to face uncertainty.

Mahfuj added that although 90 to 92 percent of Bangladesh's population is Muslim, the community is divided into different tariqas (orders).

Political leaders, he said, have done little to promote unity among them; instead, some have aligned with Qawmi groups and others with Sunni groups, using religious institutions as instruments of politics.

He said several people had been arrested in connection with the attacks on mazars, and that surveys would soon be carried out to facilitate their renovation.

Urging the management committees of attacked mazars to file cases, the adviser warned that if the current culture continues, one group's version of Islam could target another's places of worship.

"Today it is the Sufis; tomorrow it could be the Qawmi community," he said, adding that the cycle must stop.

Mahfuj acknowledged a sense of frustration over the lack of progress in the past year, warning that retaliatory actions driven by such resentment would yield no positive outcome.

He said over the past 15 years, an alliance of convenience had developed between Sufi circles and the Awami League, despite their earlier ideological differences. The understanding, he said, was that the Awami League would offer protection while the Sufis would support the party at the polls.

This dynamic, he added, has kept religious politics stagnant. Mahfuj also observed that the Qawmi groups were no exception, as they too had been used by different political parties for their own ends.

He said claims were being made that people were being removed from mosques, but added that such issues were not unique to the interim government. "This has been happening for the past 50 years," he said, pointing out that mosque committees -- as well as the governing body of the Islamic Foundation -- tend to change whenever a new government comes to power.