http://www.globalpolitician.com/24493-bangladesh
Bangladesh: Hub of international terror?
During her recent visit to Bangladesh, the British home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said there was a ‘terrorist linkage’ between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom and iterated her government’s commitment towards cooperation with Dhaka on countering terrorism and extremism and further boost in top-level engagement between the two countries.
‘There is a potential linkage between terrorists in Britain and terrorists in Bangladesh and we have shared interest and endeavor to tackle it through both short- and long-term measures,’ she told reporters at a briefing at the residence of the British high commissioner.
Smith said there would be a joint working group in June on countering terrorism comprising officials of the two countries.
She said, ‘We value our counter-terrorism relationship with Bangladesh very highly. We need a shared endeavor to tackle the threat of terrorism and make sure preventing people in first place.’
In reply to a query on possible terror link between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, she said, ‘It is highly likely to have such link as the terrorists travel widely.’
In reply to another question, the British minister said, ‘We agree to the US analyses about HUJI-B [Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh] as a potential threat.’
‘Sadly, both our countries have known the horrors of indiscriminate terrorist violence and have seen the damaging effects of extreme ideologies which only nurture division, fear and suspicion,’ said the top home affairs official in the cabinet of the British prime minister, Gordon Brown.
Smith appreciated Bangladesh’s recent move against terrorism and extremism, but cautioned the authorities of not being complacent.
She said, ‘Bangladesh has shown commitment to tackling terrorism and we welcome recent successes in making arrests. There can be no room for complacency, however. It is important also to address the root causes of radicalization.’
Touching on the issue of her meetings with the home and foreign affairs advisers, Smith said she was pleased to hear about the progress in counter-terrorism measures in Bangladesh.
Smith said, ‘I am very pleased to hear from the advisers about the progress that has been made in Bangladesh on anti-terrorism legislation, which I consider to be very important.’
She also stressed the need for the restoration of the democratic process for curbing terrorism.
Touching on the issue of the restoration of democracy, she said, ‘Achieving democracy that can endure will be vital to Bangladesh’s future stability, development and prosperity. The United Kingdom, as a close friend of Bangladesh and its people, supports the process and ambition for transparent, inclusive and fair elections of the highest standard, before the end of 2008, which can help deliver that.’
Asked about the general elections in Bangladesh, Smith said durable and sustainable elections were important for the future of Bangladesh nationally and internationally and expressed her firm optimism that the elections were going to be held according to the announced roadmap.
Smith said Britain encouraged positive participation in dialogue for inclusive elections and consensus over reforms which could sustain democracy in Bangladesh beyond that.
Asked whether the United Kingdom would show liberal attitude to Bangladeshi chefs for the British curry industry, she said the matter was raised and discussed at every meeting she had in Dhaka.
In reply to a question on the recovery of the money siphoned off by corrupt politicians from other countries, Smith said she would certainly look into it and help recover the stolen assets if they could be identified.
It may be recalled here that, two years before, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister in the BNP-Islamist Coalition government dismissed the possibility of existence of any international terrorist group in Bangladesh. M Morshed Khan dismissed the notion of presence of international terrorists in Bangladesh, saying that there may be some “local goons” working in the name of religion, who are being arrested.
“There is a difference between international terrors and local goons,” he said, asserting that there are no international terrorists in this country.
He said the government would not spare any person or group who engages in any anti-state activities by capitalizing on Islam.
It is widely speculated that after the recent statement of the British Home Secretary, the earlier claim of Bangladeshi Foreign Minister is already proven to be not prolific.
Let us look into some of the global media to assert the credibility of the comments of the British Home Minister in question of existence of international terror groups in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Islamic fundamentalist’s activities and presence of Al Qaeda were once again brought into focus couple of years back by two significant developments, namely:
* Bangladesh’s directions for closure of Al Haramain organisation’s activities in the country after the United States pressurized Saudi Arabia to wind up this organization, involved in financing of Al Qaida and Islamic Jihad, organizations .
* Bangladeshis with Al Qaida links arrested in Japan.
Presence of such activities in Bangladesh by it self may be the country’s own domestic problem but international concern is raised when such activities transcend Bangladesh’s borders and spill over into contiguous regions
Bangladesh’s proximity to South East Asia where Islamic Jihad is raising its ugly head with unrestrained vigor, a region which was noted for moderate and liberal Islam, is a special concern for the United States.
Bangladesh as a springboard and alternative base for Pakistan’s proxy war against India, in which Islamic Jihadist are used as the cats-paw stands highlighted in earlier papers.
Worrisome is the fact that Bangladesh has not bothered to arrest these trends in any meaningful manner to convince the regional and international community that it is seized of the matter.
These trends stood highlighted at intervals in the media, especially the international one and hence could not be dismissed as India-inspired.
The United States Treasury Department announced on June, 2004 that it was moving against the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Saudi charity suspected to have funneled donations to Al Qaeda and militant’s activities in the Indian sub continent.
Al Haramain’s activities in Dhaka as an Al Qaidist base were focused in the late 1990s by Yossef Bodansky and mentioned in an earlier paper of the author.
The US Treasury Department FACT SHEET describes the foundation as “one of the principal Islamic organization providing support for the Al Qaida network and promoting militant Islamic doctrine worldwide”. It had a network in 50 countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Netherlands and so on.
Al Haramain’s activities in Bangladesh as reflected by the country’s media were as under:
* Al Haramain active in Bangladesh since 1992 in Chittagong area.
* Dhaka. office opened in 1997.
* Has a network spreading in 38 Districts of Bangladesh. Runs 60 mosques across the country.
* Bangladesh country director of Al Haramain was a Sudan national named Hassan Adam.
* The Foundation had a staff of 169 personnel including foreigners.
While United States pressures may have forced the closure of this Al Qaidist linked Foundation, this step would be meaningless unless the Bangladesh Ruling Alliance (composed of Islamic Fundamentalist parties also) take measures to prevent its re-emergence in some other form, and Bangladesh would also have to dismantle its district networks.
Bangladesh media indicates that as per a pact signed last month the United States can take action against any terrorist outfit in Bangladesh. This could be a good deterrent.
The arrests of Bangladeshi’s with Al Qaida links in Japan is a very worrisome event, as so far, one thought that such activities extended maximum up to the Southern Philippines.
The ‘Straits Times’ from Singapore in a recent report datelined Tokyo came out with the following information:
* Japanese police apprehended two more Bangladeshis, suspected of ties with the Frenchman Limel Dumont who allegedly provided funds and support for the Al Qaida network.
* Earlier three Bangladeshis stood arrested on the same count by the Japanese police.
* Japanese police believe that the Frenchman had been attempting to set up a terrorist cell in Japan from March 2002 onwards, and has provided money and equipment to Islamic radicals including Al Qaida.
* The Frenchman’s cover was as a used car salesman.
The Bangladesh media and other progressive forces are exercised by the rise of the activities in Bangladesh of Islamic militants. Media coverage this month on this count makes the following telling observation:
* Although Government denies presence of militants in Bangladesh the recent vigilant actions of “Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh “(JMJB) an outgrowth of “Jamaat ul Mujahiden” (JMB) underlines their rise.
* JMB is the youth front of “Harakat-ul-Jehad”; an Al Qaida funded front banned in neighboring countries and black listed by USA since 9/11.
* The JMB in its camps trains its recruits in warfare. They have declared that the party wants to establish an Islamic rule in Bangladesh based on Taliban ideology.
* More than 100,00 JMB activists operate across Bangladesh
* Some Islamic leaders from Madrassas are also campaigning for the Taliban concepts and motivating young student to destroy the democratic structure
* Political and cultural gatherings in Bangladesh are special targets for bomb blast by Islamic militants. This included the Sylhet bombing against the British High Commissioner.
* “Despite a host of newspapers reports, the Government apparently cloaked all terrorism episodes in mysterious silence”.
Once again it needs to be pointed out that the above observations do not emanate from India or are India-inspired. They are the painful observations of Bangladesh’s own media.
Jamaat-e-Islamic (JEI)Amir, Matiur Rahman Nizami admitted in end-May 2004 that some extremist Islamic outfits might be indulging in adventures in the name of Islam, but his party JEI does not support them. Since the JEI Chief acknowledges the presence of Islamic Jihadist extremist organizations in Bangladesh, then as part of the ruling BNP Alliance he is in apposition to bring a clampdown on their activities. Will he or wont he?
On the issue of presence of Al Qaida in Bangladesh, journalist Chris Blackburn wrote in Front Page magazine in 2005, “In the present debate over terrorism threats, Bangladesh is generally not the first country that comes to mind as a hotspot of al-Qaida activity. But perhaps it should. The second largest Muslim democracy, Bangladesh is today the site of al-Qaida-run training camps financed by Middle Eastern charities and organizations, including backing from rogue elements within the Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. Just as important, it is a laboratory for the disastrous consequences of Islamist participation in the democratic process.
Bangladesh’s geography makes it an optimal location for a terrorist network. Smaller than the state of Iowa, Bangladesh is also perfectly designed for guerrilla warfare, a stark contrast to al-Qaida’s former safe haven in Afghanistan. Dense jungle and highly populated urban areas give Islamist terrorists and their supports excellent protective cover to conduct their trade, allowing them to hide their training and operations from sophisticated surveillance while shielding them from the threat of capture. Operating in this labyrinthine environment, terrorist trainees have developed elaborate escape and evasion plans.
Natural protections afforded by Bangladesh have made the country a popular destination for radicals Islamists of different stripes. Indian intelligence and government officials have publicly stated that 172 Islamist militant camps are currently operating in Bangladesh. Camps situated in the country are believed to house activists from Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombings and other atrocities. Pakistani groups such as Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both with links to al-Qaida, are also believed to be operating in the country. The recent suicide bombings in Delhi and Hyderabad (India) were both believed to have had connections to Bangladesh and the ISI supported networks; recent arrests have shown this to be the case.
As a result, India has recently increased its troop deployment on the border with Bangladesh by 100 percent. Calls for action in the Indian media are growing louder. This could help to create another tense standoff between India and Pakistan, and the added threat of a nuclear confrontation looks like it could develop over the horizon. Previously, analysts in the region thought that Kashmir would be the main flashpoint for any further escalation in tension between the two nuclear neighbors. Now Bangladesh seems like the most likely candidate for the dubious distinction.
Fears of terrorism are particularly acute in Bangladesh. Recently, the country celebrated its 34th independence day. Casting a dark shadow over the celebrations, however, is the fact that the nation is in a grip of panic, and many fear anarchy will prevail.
Their concerns are well-founded. Suicide bombers have taken to targeting law courts and government buildings.
This new tactic of suicide bombing follows on the heels of reports that Bangladeshi police suspected some 2000 suicide bombers were ready to go operational. In August, 500 bombs were exploded simultaneously throughout the country in what was seen as a trial run for the terrorists.
The latest attacks show a devastating capability for murder and a heretofore unseen sophistication. The opposition Awami League politicians have been targeted for assassination. Shah AMS Kibria, a senior Awami League politician and former under Secretary-General of the United Nations, was murdered by a grenade blast in one of these terrorist attacks earlier this year. Journalists have been threatened with their lives by Islamist groups seeking to suppress reports of their activities and patronage.
But the terrorists’ ambitions extend beyond the ongoing murder spree. The perpetrators believe that democracy should be overthrown by Shariah law and aspire to turn the second biggest Muslim democracy into an Islamist theocracy. Bangladesh, they claim, has become too westernized, like India. To achieve the vision of an Islamist state, they have sought to move beyond bombing and to make inroads into the Bangladeshi government.
Evidence of their success can already be detected. For instance, the Islamic Jamaat-i-Islami party is a coalition partner in Prime Minister Khaleda Zias government. The party is founded on the principles of Maulana Mawdudi, who was a major figure in the international Islamist scene and he worked alongside the Arab dominated Muslim Brotherhood. The two ideologies have meshed and they borrow ideas from each other. They also set up complimentary research institutes. Azzam Tamimi’s UK-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought is one such organization; Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi and Khurshid Ahmed (Jamaat) both sit on its advisory board. Jamaat sided with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War and set up the notorious al-Badr forces that were responsible for helping and implementing the systematic genocide of up to 3 million Bangladeshi’s. They have supported the Taliban and Al-Qaida. Jamaat wants to create a theocracy in Bangladesh and eventually to remove the democratic elements it claims are a blasphemous western intrusion.
Despite its unambiguously extremist agenda, Jamaat has successfully established its influence in prominent Bangladeshi institutions. Thus the Islami Bank Bangladesh (IBBL) is controlled by the Jamaat; many of its leaders sit on its board. IBBL also controls the accounts of Middle Eastern charities which have been tied to Islamist terrorism. The Al-Haramain charity, which has supported Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, has its accounts at the Islami bank. Bangladeshi and Indian intelligence have named 10 Islamic charities they believe are helping to finance and promote Islamist terrorism in Bangladesh; they are the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society, Al-Muntada Al-Islami, International Islamic Relief Agency, Al-Forkan Foundation, International Relief Organization (IRO), Kuwait Joint Relief Committee and the Muslim Aid Bangladesh (UK).
Muslim Aid Bangladesh is part of Muslim Aid UK, which is run by individuals associated with the Islamic Foundation UK. The foundation’s ties to radical Islamists have been previously documented the BBC program “Panorama.” The foundation was set up by Khurshid Ahmed, a senior Jamaat leader. Iqbal Sacranie, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is a trustee of Muslim Aid UK and was formerly its chairman. Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) helped to found Muslim Aid and it has been alleged by European intelligence agencies that branches of Muslim Aid have provided help to Jihadist fighters from Bosnia to Indonesia.
The Islamists’ recent entrance into Bangladesh’s political arena is not altogether unexpected. South Asian analysts have long observed that the country would be ripe for al-Qaida, though little effort has been made to stop their development in and penetration of the country. Time magazine has been banned from reporting in the country since 2002. Alex Perry, its South Asia bureau chief, had published a piece exposing the government’s lack of response to the build-up of Islamist terrorists with links to al-Qaida.
Political unrest is nothing new for the country. Bangladesh has been frequently scarred by dangerous and often bloody feuds between its political actors. The country was born in 1971, after the country’s liberation forces, with the aid of India’s military might, fought off the West Pakistani dictatorship of Yahya Khan to regain their and cultural and political independence. Today, however, the Bengali people feel that they are once again fighting for their survival and cultural identity.
The international community would be well advised to take note of the Islamist ascendance that presently imperils the country.
Though Bangladesh is one the poorest nations in the world, it is strategically important to the U.S.-led “War on Terror.” This is why international pressure must be applied to the country. Bangladesh must be forced to dismantle the terrorist training and ideological infrastructure, something the current government has been unable to do effectively because its coalition partner is part of the problem.
The current crisis unfolding in Bangladesh must act as an early warning signal. It is a dark glimmer of what groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jamaat-i-Islami do once they become part of governments. Advocates of allowing Islamist parties to enter the democratic process must take notice: groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jamaat abuse their authority and dangerously push for greater powers and privileges which allow them to try and destroy democracy from within. Greater political responsibilities aren’t dissuading them from trying to violently implement Shariah law; they only embolden them. At the very least, recent developments in Bangladesh suggest that any serious discussion of counterterrorism strategy must include a country that for too long has been ignored.”
In 2002, India’s prominent English language daily The Times of India wrote, “Is Bangladesh emerging as a new staging ground for the al-Qaida? The answer is yes, according to an article in the latest Time magazine.
In a detailed story from Chittagong, a magazine reporter builds on the story of how a batch of fleeing al-Qaida and Taliban found shelter in Bangladesh to reveal a larger and more sinister story of how Bangladesh has become a haven for Jihad International.
The ship in question came some nine months ago, carrying 150 fleeing fighters. They were received by a Bangladesh intelligence official and most of them vanished thereafter, probably into the region of Ukhia, near Cox's Bazaar which has been a haven for desperadoes of many nationalities and causes.
The magazine's detailed investigation shows how Bangladesh is being used by a variety of guerilla organizations, many of them with links to Islamic fundamentalists. According to the magazine, "Southern Bangladesh has become a haven for hundreds of jihadis on the lam."
These fighters find "natural allies" in other groups sheltering there such as terrorists who operate against India or Muslim Rohingyas who fled ethnic and religious persecution at the hands of the Burmese military junta.
The article reveals the manner in which Bangladesh is now serving as a clearing house of terrorists where "fighters trained and given new identities...regularly find their way to conflicts in Afghanistan and Kashmir".
Predictably, Bangladesh government officials have rejected suggestions that jihadis are functioning within their borders.
But this, the magazine says, is understandable since two Islamic fundamentalist parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islamic Oikya Jote, are part of the electoral alliance led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government.
The Oikya Jote is known to sympathize with the Taliban and al-Qaida and is liked to the Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI), a terrorist group that "has been involved in scores of bombings, including two attempted assassinations of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina".
Indian intelligence officials have long been concerned about the activities of the Bangladeshi HUJI which has fraternal links with its Pakistani counterparts, as well as Maulana Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammed. Their concerns now been appear to have got dramatic confirmation.”
Al Jazeera Television in its program titled Bangladesh’s War with Extremism commented in 2007, “In the past Bangladesh has been hit by a series of bombings.
The worst were in August 2005 when hundreds of bombs were simultaneously exploded across the country.
Security forces have uncovered large caches of weapons and explosives, suggesting that these groups have well-established links with outside organizations.
A former commander of a training camp inside the country, who did not want to be identified, told us that he has intimate knowledge of the international links Bangladeshi groups have with outside organizations, including al-Qaida.
He told us that 3,000 Afghan veterans are in Bangladesh, that rebel leaders met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1998 and, with his support, they set up a branch of al-Qaida in Bangladesh.
Experts say the groups have infiltrated every sector of the Bangladesh economy.”
It said, “Professor Abdul Barkat, a Bangladeshi economist, says the money comes not only from the Middle East, but also from second- or third-generation Muslims in the West who do not realize that their donations will end up in the Madrassas religious school system.
Critics have said that some Madrassas – of which there are 64,000 in Bangladesh - have become breeding grounds for Islamic extremism.
It is a charge firmly denied by Mufti Falzul Haq Amini, a former member of parliament who runs a Madrassas in the centre of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.
"They want to destroy the Madrassas education system as it is gaining in popularity and people are coming towards Islam," he said.
"So they want to destroy the Madrassas by linking them with terrorism. But the reality is the Madrassas is not linked with militancy."
Al Jazeera Television added saying that, “There is no suggestion that Mufti Amini's Madrassas has any links with so-called terrorist groups.
But experts fear that other Madrassas do.
Kabir has investigated many of the funds headed for Bangladeshi Madrassas and says the schools are receiving "an enormous amount of money" from the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, and become the recruiting ground of al-Qaida and other groups.
Religious parties openly say they want an Islamic state and Shariah in Bangladesh but are not prepared to use violence to obtain them.
But for Islamic rebels violence seems to be the only way.”
Now a prominent question comes in minds of everyone, as to whether there is any funding in Madrassas run by Fazlul Haq Amini in Bangladesh. The reply is yes. Because, Amini is the most controversial man in Bangladesh, who promotes religious hatred and culture of Jihad. He is the man, who openly terms Osama Bin Laden as a ‘Hero’.
In 2006, prestigious American newspaper The Washington Post published a commentary titled ‘A New Hub for Terrorism’ by Selig S Harrison. In this article, Harrison wrote, “While the United States dithers, a growing Islamic fundamentalist movement linked to al-Qaida and Pakistani intelligence agencies is steadily converting the strategically located nation of Bangladesh into a new regional hub for terrorist operations that reach into India and Southeast Asia.
With 147 million people, largely Muslim Bangladesh has substantial Hindu and Christian minorities and is nominally a secular democracy. But the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) struck a Faustian bargain with the fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami five years ago in order to win power.
In return for the votes in Parliament needed to form a coalition government, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has looked the other way as the Jamaat has systematically filled sensitive civil service, police, intelligence and military posts with its sympathizers, who have in turn looked the other way as Jamaat-sponsored guerrilla squads patterned after the Taliban have operated with increasing impunity in many rural and urban areas.
To the dismay of her business supporters, the prime minister gave the coveted post of industries minister to Matiur Rahman Nizami, a high-ranking Jamaat official who has helped promote the growth of a Jamaat economic empire that embraces banking, insurance, trucking, pharmaceutical manufacturing, department stores, newspapers and TV stations.
A study last year by a leading Bangladeshi economist showed that the "fundamentalist sector of the economy" earns annual profits of some $1.2 billion.
Now the BNP-Jamaat alliance is rigging the next national elections, scheduled for January, to prevent the return of the opposition Awami League to power. Voter lists are being manipulated, and the supposedly neutral caretaker government and the commission that will run the election are being turned into puppets.
The BNP argues that coalition rule helps moderates in the Jamaat to combat Islamic extremist factions. But the reality is that Jamaat inroads in the government security machinery at all levels, starting with Home Secretary Muhammad Omar Farooq, widely regarded as close to the Jamaat, have opened the way for suicide bombings, political assassinations, harassment of the Hindu minority, and an unchecked influx of funds from Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf to Jamaat-oriented Madrassas (religious schools) that in some cases are fronts for terrorist activity.
With some 15,000 hard-core fighters operating out of 19 known base camps, guerrilla groups sponsored by the Jamaat and its allies were able to paralyze the country last Aug. 17 by staging 459 closely synchronized explosions in all but one of the country's administrative districts. When the key leaders of these groups were captured, they were kept by the police in a comfortable apartment, where they were free to receive visitors. A cartoon in the Daily Star of Dhaka on July 24 showed them lounging on a rug, conducting classes in bomb making. Their fate and present place of confinement is uncertain, and all of the major guerrilla groups are back to business as usual.
The bitterness of Bangladeshi politics is often attributed to a personal vendetta between two strong women, Prime Minister Zia and the Awami League leader, Sheikh Hasina Wajed. But the roots of the current struggle go back to 1971, when Bengali East Pakistan, led by the Awami League, broke away from Punjabi-dominated West Pakistan to form the nation of Bangladesh. The Jamaat, which originated in the western wing, opposed the independence movement and fought side by side with Pakistani forces against both fellow Bengalis and the Indian troops who intervened in the decisive final phase of the conflict.
For Pakistan's intelligence agencies, especially Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the legacy of the independence war has been a built-in network of agents within the Jamaat and its affiliates who can be utilized to harass India along its 2,500-mile border with Bangladesh. In addition to supporting tribal separatist groups in northeast India, the ISI uses Bangladesh as a base for helping Islamic extremists inside India. After the July 11 train bombings in Bombay, a top Indian police official, K.P. Raghuvanshi, said that his key suspects "have connections with groups in Nepal and Bangladesh, which are directly or indirectly connected to Pakistan."
A State Department report cited evidence that one of the Jamaat's main allies, the Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami, also headquartered in Pakistan, "maintains contact with Al Qaida in Afghanistan." Bangladesh Harakat leader Fazlul Rahman was one of the six signatories of Osama bin Laden's first declaration of holy war against the United States, on Feb. 23, 1998. Since the October 2002 Bali bombings led to repression of al-Qaida, some of its Indonesian and Malaysian cells have shifted their operations to Bangladesh.
What makes future prospects in Bangladesh especially alarming is that the Jamaat and its allies appear to be penetrating the higher ranks of the armed forces. Among many examples, informed journalists in Dhaka attribute Jamaat sympathies to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Aminul Karim, recently appointed as military secretary to President Iajuddin Ahmed, and to Brig. Gen. A.T.M. Amin, director of the Armed Forces Intelligence anti-terrorism bureau.
The respected journalists in question cannot write freely about the Jamaat without facing death threats or assassination attempts. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists has published extensive dossiers documenting 68 death threats and dozens of bombing attacks that have injured at least eight journalists. "We are alarmed by the growing pattern of intimidation of journalists by Islamic groups in Bangladesh," the committee said recently. "As a result of its alliance with the Jamaat-Islamiyah, the government appears to lack the ability or will to protect journalists from this new and grave threat."
The Bush administration has yet to speak with comparable candor. The latest State Department annual report on terrorism mentioned only one of the three Jamaat militias as a terrorist group and avoided direct criticism of the BNP for its coalition with the Jamaat, referring only to the "serious political constraints" that explain the government's "limited success" in countering "escalating" terrorist violence. On July 13 the U.S. ambassador called Bangladesh "an exceptional moderate Muslim state."
The United States and other donors gave Bangladesh $1.4 billion in aid last year. There is still time for the administration to use aid leverage and trade concessions to promote a fair election by calling openly and forcefully for nonpartisan control of the Election Commission and the caretaker government. In addition to implicitly threatening an aid cutoff if it is rebuffed, the administration should offer the powerful incentive of duty-free textile imports from Bangladesh if Prime Minister Zia cooperates.
In Pakistan, the United States has been gingerly pushing Gen. Pervez Musharraf for democratic elections because it needs the limited but significant support he is giving against al-Qaida and fears what might come after him. But what is the excuse for inaction in Bangladesh, where the incumbent government coddles Islamic extremists and a strong secular party is ready to govern?”
Selig Harrison is former South Asia bureau chief of The Post and the author of five books on South Asia, has covered Bangladesh since 1951 [Bangladesh was liberated in 2971, earlier it was known as East Pakistan].
Global terrorism analyst Wilson John, commenting on the roots of extremism in Bangladesh wrote in 2005, “In many ways, Bangladesh seems an excellent place for al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in the decisive years ahead. It is an impoverished Islamic nation, politically weak and backward in its economic development. Its ports have been active hubs for transnational crime, including weapons running. More significantly, it has a formidable presence of religious groups, some noticeably extreme, jostling in the political space often left vacant by frequent bouts of political instability and military intervention since the country's violent birth in December 1971.
Before the war of liberation, Bangladesh was East Pakistan, a compact patch of Gangetic delta sliced out of the Indian subcontinent during the Partition of 1947. Separated from the mainland by the mass of the Indian subcontinent, East Pakistan remained a distant outpost for Islamabad; a neglected, impoverished state, governed by local army commanders who used it as a staging ground for helping militant groups engaged in a prolonged conflict with India for the liberation of their respective States in the north-east.
The Pakistan Army first began training Naga rebels in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a tradition that continued subsequently with Manipuri and Mizo insurgent groups. Although the 1971 war and the consequent birth of Bangladesh put an end to this joint venture between militant groups and Pakistan's intelligence agencies, this setback proved to be temporary. The assassination of Bangladesh's first Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and his family in 1975, and the subsequent political turmoil, helped these militant groups to reclaim their training camps, now run by Bangladeshi intelligence and security agencies. These agencies enjoyed support from various religious groups which had their origin in Pakistan. One such group was Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). After emerging as a strong religious/political party, JeI became Bangladesh's third largest party in the October 2001 elections.
Religious parties like JeI owed much of their growth to the Islamization of the country's political institutions initiated by President Zia-ur Rehman in 1977. A little more than a decade later, President HM Ershad made Islam the state religion, further strengthening Islamic forces like the JeI. The growing clout of religious political parties was revealed with shocking clarity during a huge protest march of some 70,000 to 80,000 persons against the well-known Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasreen, in June 1994. Religious groups have also gained tremendously by the bitter feuding between the two main political parties, the Awami League led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by current Premier Begum Khaleda Zia. Both parties have been assiduously courting JeI throughout this political fight. The Awami League, for instance, sought support from the religious party to campaign against the BNP while the latter has co-opted JeI as a coalition partner.
The rise of radical political and religious parties like JeI promoted the growth of Madrassas in the country, mostly funded by certain Middle Eastern countries. The prominent donors are the Saudi-based al-Haramain Foundation, UAE-based al-Fujayrah Welfare Association and the Dubai-based Dar ul-Ansar and Muslim Welfare Association. Although none of these organizations have any offices in the areas where terrorist groups are active, they operate through a network of preachers who not only distribute money but also motivate the youth to join jihad.
Not surprisingly, Bangladesh has been host to various terrorist groups anxious to recruit and train young students coming out of these madrasas. One of the more prominent ones is Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), widely regarded as al-Qaeda's operating arm in South Asia. HuJI has been consolidating its position in Bangladesh where it boasts a membership of more than 15,000 activists, of whom at least 2,000 are "hardcore". Led by Shawkat Osman (alias Sheikh Farid) in Chittagong, the group has at least six training camps in Bangladesh. According to one report, about 3,500 Bangladeshis had gone to Pakistan and Afghanistan to take part in jihad. Barring 34 who died, a large number of them returned home; of these, about 500 form the backbone of HuJI.
While in Afghanistan, some HuJI members met Osama bin Laden at Khost on February 11, 1989, a few months before their leader Abdur Rehman Farooqui died while clearing mines near the city. More evidence of the group's alignment with the Taliban and al-Qaeda is revealed by a fatwa issued by the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh led by JeI chief Fazlur Rehman on February 23, 1998. The directive was signed by Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, Rifa'i Ahmad Taha (alias Abu Yasir of Egyptian Islamic Group) and Sheikh Mir Hamzah (secretary of the Jamiat ul Ulema e-Pakistan). The most troubling aspect of the rise of HuJI revolves around these sorts of connections with religious groups. HuJI has camps in the inaccessible, hilly terrains of Cox Bazar and Banderban and along the No Man's Land adjacent to the Bangladesh-Burma border. Furthermore, the group enjoys support and patronage from about 30 madrasas in Chittagong. Credible reports indicate that the camps are used for recruitment and weapons training.
Chittagong is one of the areas in Bangladesh which has become a base for the resurgence of the Islamic movement. In a series of investigative articles, Prathm Alo, a prominent Bangladeshi newspaper, disclosed the involvement of several madrasas in the border areas of Naikhangchhari and Ukhia in providing weapons training and motivating the youth to launch an Islamic revolution in the country.
But it is not HuJI alone which has gained immensely from the support of the local network of madrasas. More worrisome is the growth of a HuJI clone, Harkat ul-Jihad, a little known group which has vowed to create an Islamic state in Bangladesh and HuJI's youth organization, Jagrata Mulsim Janata Bangladesh. In June 2004, Bangladeshi police raided the training camps of Harkat ul-Jihad in the Chittagong Hill Tracts where at least 50 students were being trained at any given point in time. Another formidable group is Rohingya Solidarity Organization, which based itself in the area in the early 1980s and linked up with other Islamic militant groups like Gulbuddin Hekmatyr's Hizb-e-Islami in Afghanistan, Hizb ul-Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir, and Angkatan Belia Islam Sa Malaysia (the Islamic Youth Organization of Malaysia). Significantly, on May 10, 2002, nine religious extremist groups, including HuJI, decided to form a Bangladeshi Islamic Manch (Platform) to coordinate their activities and develop a collective infrastructure.
Besides these groups, the Chittagong Hill also shelters other, less-known radical political and insurgent groups like the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (Chittagong Hill Tracts People United Front). This organization is comprised of former Shanti Bahini and United People's Democratic Front guerillas that are fighting both each other and the government in Dhaka for political power. Although these groups do not have a large public support base, there is evidence that they are heavily armed. Last year, the Bangladesh Rifles seized anti-tank and anti-personnel mines and rocket launchers from one of these groups during a raid. The number of high-profile bomb attacks was so high last year – attacks on the British High Commissioner on May 21, 2004 and Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina during a political rally on August 21, 2004 killed more than 20 persons alone – that the U.S. government sent a team of CIA and FBI officials to help the local security and intelligence agencies.
Another clear indication of the growth of extremist organizations is the emergence of the pan-Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) in Bangladesh. Although HT claims to be strictly non-violent, intelligence agencies in several countries – from Central Asian republics to Pakistan – fear that the sophisticated infrastructure and organizational discipline of the party can be exploited by al-Qaeda. HT is fairly active in Bangladesh but deliberately keeps a low profile, optimistically anticipating the emergence of a political "third force" as a possible alternative to the dominance of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League.
What should be of immediate concern to regional nations and the West (in particular the U.S.) is, irrespective of the absence of sustained links between Islamic groups like HT, JeI and terrorist organizations, they essentially share the same ideology and anti-Western agenda. Moreover, lack of direct organizational links does not necessarily preclude the existence of "informal" links between members of the strictly political groups and underground Islamic terrorist organizations like HuJI. In Pakistan, al-Qaeda has been quite successful in co-opting various religious and sectarian groups to work for the larger "cause" of global terror. In Bangladesh such networking could be easier, making this small, impoverished country a potential sanctuary.”
In 2007 [May] An Islamist outfit calling itself Zadid (New) Al Qaeda threatened to blow up the Hardinge Bridge, a key rail link between the south-western and the northern regions of Bangladesh, prompting tightening of vigil by army and security forces.
Built during 1910-12 by the erstwhile British Indian government, the steel bridge over the Padma river is located near the industrial city of Pabna in west-central Bangladesh. It had been an important rail stop in years before the 1947 partition of India for trains from Calcutta (now Kolkata) bound for Assam and Darjeeling.
It is at present the principal link bridge on the Padma in Bangladesh, and the location where water released by India under the Ganga Water Treaty of 1997 is measured.
Zadid Al Qaeda sent a letter to a senior railway threatening to blow up the bridge prompting an immediate security alert.
The Islamist outfit earlier this month exploded bombs at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet railway stations, in which one person was injured, and left at the scenes aluminium plates inscribed on it a call for "the holy war" against the minority Ahmadiyyas. It also ordered all NGO activists to quit their jobs by May 10.
From the statement of the British Home Minister and global comments in media for past number of years, it is clearly understood that, analysts were already apprehending presence of Al Qaida in Bangladesh as well as rise of millitant groups using religious slogans. Although the latest statement came from the British authorities, the advisor for Home Affairs of the present interim government in Bangladesh, Major General [Retired] M A Matin was also present at the press briefing. Many people may conclude the statement as rather a joint statement of Dhaka and London. In this case, shall someone assume that, this was a first hand confirmation from the Bangladesh authorities on the existence of international terror groups in the country? Moreover, does authorities in Bangladesh understand the very impact of this statement?
It is well anticipated that, this ‘joint statement’ of Dhaka and London on existence of international terror groups in Bangladesh shall get maximum exposures in the global media. In this case, what would happen if international community or global players will try to find ways and means in combating such existence?
On the other hand, there is no room to dismiss the claims of the British Home Minister on existence of international terror groups in Bangladesh. People may try to name Jamaatul Mujahedin or HUJI as the only potential groups of such elements. But, what about Hizb Ut Tahrir? This is one of the most notorious Al Qaeda linked groups in the world, which is banned in many nations, except some like United Kingdom, Bangladesh etc. There had also been reports on Communist-Leftist-Al Qaeda affiliations in many countries in the world. Why? Because, all of these elements are anti-West and anti-American. On the other hand, Al Qaeda, Hizb Ut Tahrir, Leftists and Communists are largely anti Semitic. Here is the basic point of their agreement. They also oppose democratic system. Many of the experts have already forecasted about the links between Al Qaeda and leftists like Maoists in Nepal or Puba Bangla Communist Party and similar leftis terror groups in Bangladesh. Al Qaeda feels much comfortabel in infiltrating in nations through these groups. It is even reported that Al Qaeda is sheltered in Nepal right by the Maoists. Who knows, if in Bangladesh, such elements are also getting avenues of operations through the leftist terrors?
SHOCKING ARTICLE. I THINK US SHOULD SEND ITS FORCES AND DRONES INTO BANGLADESH IF IT REFUSES TO ACT AGAINST THEM.
Hope the Indian members will thank this post too 
