Banglar Bir
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Does ‘terrorism’ have a future in Bangladesh?
Afsan Chowdhury, July 4, 2017
Terrorism is one of the many problems of law and order and not the only one in Bangladesh. It has almost no ideological face because in Bangladesh it’s not an extension of any nationalist extremism movement inside or outside. Nor does it wish to liberate the neighbourhood next door such as Kashmir or Kabul.
It also helps law enforcers a lot if people are so firmly anti-jihadi. Their lack of interest is not ideological but social. Nobody wants life and livelihood to be disturbed by people whose actions disrupt. Peasant logic of livelihood overrides everything else.
Bangladesh has had a radical history in the colonial era and was often motivated by religious leaders but the reasons were always about the belly. The Left were into violent radicalism and anti-colonial terrorism did terrify British occupier — they are hero worshipped — but conventional middle class led parties always led the centre stage. By that time Maoism hit Bangladesh in the 1960s, the multi-class nationalist movement was in full sway sweeping everything away in its path. Its true of course that the 1971 war was violent and causing much suffering but even in that year, survival instincts not ideology played the biggest role.
In 1971, Jihadist didn’t exist and the Jamaat-e-Islami, their closest clone, whose leaders have mostly been hanged by Sheikh Hasina’s government were more pro-Pakistani than Islamists. As Soviet Union died and China changed tracks, the low end Left movement in Bangladesh went comatose.
Also Read: Militancy now under control: AL GS Quader
It was only after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan that Islamist radicalism began to be visible. A few stray bombings occurred and in 2003 a group – Harkatul Jihad — made some noise, most were captured and then hanged by the BNP government of Khaleda Zia. The latest phase began in 2015-16 with stray killings of bloggers, minority members, gay activists etc the last drawing great attention from all over. Even Joe Biden paid an anxious visit to discuss “terrorism’. It peaked in July 2016 with the Holey Artisan Bakery attack located in upscale Gulshan Dhaka. It began the steep decline of jihadists too immediately.
Socially restive but not ideological
In 2013, largely young and urban pro-liberation activists took to the streets demanding the highest sentence for the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. This “Shahbagh” movement pushed the government to adjust war crimes related laws leading to hanging of most of the accused.
But the anti-Shahbagh — largely Islamists forces supported by BNP media – hit back saying the activists were all atheists. Surprisingly, the canard spread and the movement was significantly stigmatized. In this campaign, mosques played a key role. Sheikh Hasina learned that the conservative forces were real and need to be counted, something she remembers well today.
Jihadists began to attack isolated and random targets around 2015 but these were innocuous ones of little political significance. The counter-terrorism unit Chief Monirul Islam told TV that the group leader was one Bangla-Canadian called Tamim Chowdhury who thought a major attack would get global attention and draw many to the Islamist bracket. They were inspired by the attention given to killing of the gay activists.
On July 1, 2016, they mounted an attack on a fancy restaurant in upscale Gulshan killing 25 including several foreigners. In a single night, the ‘terrorism’ scenario changed. By next morning an army attack had killed all the hostage takers and triggered a ferocious anti-jongireaction.
Read this story in Bengali
What the jongis (militants) misread was the public mind. While the Gulshan attack scared the upper class, the middle class were a bit dismayed but didn’t panic and the poor gave a damn. Security checks bother but there is simply no public support for jongis. The anti-terror campaign has eliminated almost 50 jongis – maybe more- showing they are no match once the enforcers go for them knowing public will tolerate ‘encounter’ killings. Their backbone has been broken and within a year the jongis have retreated into a less than major security issue.
No territorial nationalist movement in Bangladesh
But the most important reason why jongis have no future is because global terrorism are all linked to militant nationalism and that ended in 1971 Bangladesh. Whether it’s IS-(Iraq), Al-Qaeda (Saudia), LTTE- (Tamils), IRA (Irish) or even Naxaliites (Indian forest dwellers), etc, are all rooted in territorial identity aspirations. The CHT militancy of Bangladesh in the 70s-80s was also about land rights.
It’s true that fringes may emerge — Left, Islamist, Khalistani etc — outside the main geography but they are fragments and without the nationalist core they die out soon. That is why Islamist terrorism logic doesn’t seem to have a future in Bangladesh as territorial nationalism doesn’t exist.
The PM Hasina is playing a pragmatic political line; anti-jongi but soft on religious groups which have no political platforms. She wants to be in touch with the mosque network and seminarians – the Hefazat Islam group- but not the religious radicals, Jamaat-e-Islami. But what makes jongibad (militancy) a minor security threat in Bangladesh is its lack of public support because there is no cause to fuel such a trend.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/07/04/terrorism-future-bangladesh/
Afsan Chowdhury, July 4, 2017
Terrorism is one of the many problems of law and order and not the only one in Bangladesh. It has almost no ideological face because in Bangladesh it’s not an extension of any nationalist extremism movement inside or outside. Nor does it wish to liberate the neighbourhood next door such as Kashmir or Kabul.
It also helps law enforcers a lot if people are so firmly anti-jihadi. Their lack of interest is not ideological but social. Nobody wants life and livelihood to be disturbed by people whose actions disrupt. Peasant logic of livelihood overrides everything else.
Bangladesh has had a radical history in the colonial era and was often motivated by religious leaders but the reasons were always about the belly. The Left were into violent radicalism and anti-colonial terrorism did terrify British occupier — they are hero worshipped — but conventional middle class led parties always led the centre stage. By that time Maoism hit Bangladesh in the 1960s, the multi-class nationalist movement was in full sway sweeping everything away in its path. Its true of course that the 1971 war was violent and causing much suffering but even in that year, survival instincts not ideology played the biggest role.
In 1971, Jihadist didn’t exist and the Jamaat-e-Islami, their closest clone, whose leaders have mostly been hanged by Sheikh Hasina’s government were more pro-Pakistani than Islamists. As Soviet Union died and China changed tracks, the low end Left movement in Bangladesh went comatose.
Also Read: Militancy now under control: AL GS Quader
It was only after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan that Islamist radicalism began to be visible. A few stray bombings occurred and in 2003 a group – Harkatul Jihad — made some noise, most were captured and then hanged by the BNP government of Khaleda Zia. The latest phase began in 2015-16 with stray killings of bloggers, minority members, gay activists etc the last drawing great attention from all over. Even Joe Biden paid an anxious visit to discuss “terrorism’. It peaked in July 2016 with the Holey Artisan Bakery attack located in upscale Gulshan Dhaka. It began the steep decline of jihadists too immediately.
Socially restive but not ideological
In 2013, largely young and urban pro-liberation activists took to the streets demanding the highest sentence for the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. This “Shahbagh” movement pushed the government to adjust war crimes related laws leading to hanging of most of the accused.
But the anti-Shahbagh — largely Islamists forces supported by BNP media – hit back saying the activists were all atheists. Surprisingly, the canard spread and the movement was significantly stigmatized. In this campaign, mosques played a key role. Sheikh Hasina learned that the conservative forces were real and need to be counted, something she remembers well today.
Jihadists began to attack isolated and random targets around 2015 but these were innocuous ones of little political significance. The counter-terrorism unit Chief Monirul Islam told TV that the group leader was one Bangla-Canadian called Tamim Chowdhury who thought a major attack would get global attention and draw many to the Islamist bracket. They were inspired by the attention given to killing of the gay activists.
On July 1, 2016, they mounted an attack on a fancy restaurant in upscale Gulshan killing 25 including several foreigners. In a single night, the ‘terrorism’ scenario changed. By next morning an army attack had killed all the hostage takers and triggered a ferocious anti-jongireaction.
Read this story in Bengali
What the jongis (militants) misread was the public mind. While the Gulshan attack scared the upper class, the middle class were a bit dismayed but didn’t panic and the poor gave a damn. Security checks bother but there is simply no public support for jongis. The anti-terror campaign has eliminated almost 50 jongis – maybe more- showing they are no match once the enforcers go for them knowing public will tolerate ‘encounter’ killings. Their backbone has been broken and within a year the jongis have retreated into a less than major security issue.
No territorial nationalist movement in Bangladesh
But the most important reason why jongis have no future is because global terrorism are all linked to militant nationalism and that ended in 1971 Bangladesh. Whether it’s IS-(Iraq), Al-Qaeda (Saudia), LTTE- (Tamils), IRA (Irish) or even Naxaliites (Indian forest dwellers), etc, are all rooted in territorial identity aspirations. The CHT militancy of Bangladesh in the 70s-80s was also about land rights.
It’s true that fringes may emerge — Left, Islamist, Khalistani etc — outside the main geography but they are fragments and without the nationalist core they die out soon. That is why Islamist terrorism logic doesn’t seem to have a future in Bangladesh as territorial nationalism doesn’t exist.
The PM Hasina is playing a pragmatic political line; anti-jongi but soft on religious groups which have no political platforms. She wants to be in touch with the mosque network and seminarians – the Hefazat Islam group- but not the religious radicals, Jamaat-e-Islami. But what makes jongibad (militancy) a minor security threat in Bangladesh is its lack of public support because there is no cause to fuel such a trend.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/07/04/terrorism-future-bangladesh/
aren't most of the Ruskys atheist?
