Jamaat eyeing Indian havens: Intelligence agencies.
By Jayanta Gupta, TNN | Mar 3, 2013, 07.07 AM IST
KOLKATA: Indian troops along the Bangladesh border have been put on high alert after warnings from intelligence agencies that the Jamaat-e-Islami , the fundamentalist party which is facing a government crackdown in Bangladesh, may try to push a section of its leadership into India.
The reports, a Union home ministry official told TOI on Saturday on the condition of anonymity, also suggest the Jamaat plans to carry on its activities by fuelling anger over the war crimes trial of its senior leaders till the Bangladesh general elections, which are likely to be held early next year.
A section of officials also believes the Jamaat leadership will try to fuel communal tension along the border districts of India, particularly Assam and parts of Bengal, to exert pressure on the Centre to change its Bangladesh policy.
With riots that have claimed 57 lives continuing in Dhaka and other cities on Saturday, the influx of Bangladeshis into Bengal continued. But even as hundreds crossed over at the Petrapole border gate in Bongaon and Mahadipur in Malda with valid papers, the real concern was illegal migration, especially along porous areas.
"An alert has been sounded all along the Indo-Bangladesh border," the home ministry official told TOI over phone from Delhi. "It's a known fact that Jamaat has links in India. It will be of convenience for the leaders to cross over and carry on their activities in Bangladesh in comparative safety. Once they manage to sneak into India, it will be very difficult to track them down."
Riots part of Jamaat election plan, say Intel reports
A majority of those killed in the Bangladesh riots are Jamaat supporters. A number of security personnel have also died in the violence. With the violence now spreading to the districts, the Bangladeshi police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh have launched a manhunt for leaders who incited the violence after Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was sentenced to death for war crimes.
"Intelligence reports suggest the Jamaate-Islami, which is part of the opposition in Bangladesh, will carry on its activities till the general elections in that country," another official said. "The leadership believes it can make use of the War Crimes Tribunal verdicts to garner support among a section of the population that is still controlled by religious leaders in Bangladesh. The Awami League government will want to avoid this at all costs. This will result in a clampdown on Jamaat leaders, which is why they would want to slip into India."
The Jamaat has some support in India, as agitations in Kolkata have revealed. Officials in Delhi are worried that if the leadership succeeds in crossing over, such agitations may increase and embarrass the Indian government, which is standing by Sheikh Hasina in her efforts to combat fundamentalism.
Jamaat eyeing Indian havens: Intelligence agencies - The Times of India
@
LaBong @
fateh71 @
Skull and Bones @
ShadowFaux