'Amra Sobai Hobo Taliban Bangla Hobe Afghanistan'

Executive Summary

The Begum Khaleda Zia Government of Bangladesh, which has been in power in Dhaka since 2001, looks upon thefundamentalist and jihadi elements as its objective allies. Though her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) isby no means a fundamentalist party, she wants to use these elements to keep India destabilised externally andto weaken the opposition Awami League and its allies internally. 

She has shown no desire or inclination to act against either the anti-India elements from our Northeast orthe jihadi terrorist elements which pose a threat not only to their own country and India, but also to theSoutheast Asian region and the world as a whole. It has given a free hand to its military-intelligenceestablishment, which continues to collude with the ISI.

Till now, the international community has not paid as much attention as it deserves to the signs of Bangladeshemerging as a new hub of pro-bin Laden jihadi terrorism. The situation in Bangladesh is similar to the one inIndonesia before the Bali explosion of October, 2002. The Khaleda Zia Government, like the MegawatiSukarnoputri Government in Indonesia before October 2002, refuses to acknowledge the growing activities of thejihadi terrorist elements from its territory and has been avoiding any strong action against them whilecontinuing to pay lip-service to Bangladesh's support to the so-called war against internationalterrorism. 

Like Pakistan, Bangladesh too is lacking in sincerity in its implementation of the UN Security CouncilResolution No.1373 against terrorism. Unless the international community pressures her to start acting againstthe jihadi and other terrorist elements operating from Bangladesh territory, this region and the world are infor another nasty surprise similar to the Bali explosion.

The Text

Concerns over the likelihood of Bangladesh emerging as a major hub of jihadi terrorism in Asia to the eastof India have once again come to the fore following the publication on December 10, 2003, of an edited versionof a report on Bangladesh prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and an advisory issuedby the US State Department to its citizens and officials posted in or visiting that country.

The CSIS report prepared in July last, edited portions of which were obtained by a media organisationcalled the Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, said that the Government of Bangladesh was notdoing enough to prevent the country from becoming a haven for Islamic terrorists in South Asia and expressedits concern over the activities of extremists suspected to be connected to Al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden. Itsaid that the Government of Bangladesh was unwilling to crack down on terrorism and referred to the likelihoodof dangers to Canadian aid agencies in Bangladesh.

It also said that there have been a number of serious terrorist attacks on cultural groups and recreationalfacilities in Bangladesh, but the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been routinely blaming theopposition party for such criminal activities, rather than finding out the real perpetrators of violence.

According to the CSIS report, in February,2003, Islamic militants attacked a cultural concert in a northernBangladesh town and the police recovered bomb-making materials from radicals who claimed to be members of themilitant organizations Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Shahdat ul Hiqma. In 1998, a group called BangladeshJihad came to notice when one of its members signed a fatwa issued by bin Laden calling for a jihad againstthe US and Israel, it added.

In a statement issued on December 11, 2003, the Bangladesh Foreign Office strongly denied the contents ofthe CSIS report. It said: "The contents of the report are far from the reality on the ground. TheGovernment remains firmly committed to combating terrorism. Some quarters are bent on tarnishing the peacefulimage of Bangladesh."

In a separate statement issued at Ottawa the same day, the Bangladesh's High Commissioner in Ottawa, MohsinAli Khan, denied that his country had become a terrorist haven and asserted that his Government was very"conscious of its responsibility to protect its citizens. We condemn terrorism in any country, in anyform, in any place. Bangladesh is against any terrorist attack and it will not allow its soil to be used byany terrorist group."

Coinciding with the publication of extracts from the CSIS report, the US State Department issued anadvisory on Bangladesh in which it said that it had received information about possible threats to its Embassyin Dhaka and warned Americans in Bangladesh to be vigilant, particularly in places frequented by foreigners.It added that it had recently received information regarding several possible threats against the U.S. Embassyin Dhaka and other U.S. interests in Bangladesh and cautioned that American citizens in Bangladesh shouldremain vigilant, particularly in public places frequented by foreigners, including but not limited to hotels,restaurants, shopping areas, and places of worship. They should also avoid demonstrations and large crowds,the statement said. The advisory did not give any other details. According to the "BangladeshObserver", a similar advisory was issued by the Australian Government too to its citizens in Bangladesh.

The advisory assumed significance in the light of the stand taken by the US Embassy in Dhaka in the pastthat it did not have any corroboration of the reports carried by the Time magazine, the Jane'sIntelligence Review of London and other sections of the media about the shifting of some sections of AlQaeda from Pakistan to Bangladesh following the US military action in Afghanistan post 9/11 and its operationsagainst Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

In fact, the annual report on the Patterns of Global Terrorism during 1992 submitted by theCounter-Terrorism Division of the US State Department to the Congress in May,2003, did not refer to anypro-bin Laden jihadi terrorist activities in Bangladesh territory on the lines of what has been appearing inthe US media. However, it did contain, as in its reports of the previous years, an account of the activitiesof the Bangladesh branch of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al- Islami (HUJI), which is a member of bin Laden'sInternational Islamic Front (IIF). The State Department refers to it as HUJI(B), to distinguish it from theHUJI of Pakistan headed by Qari Saifullah Akhtar.

Its comments on the activities of HUJI (B) said: 

"The mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B hasconnections to the Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and Harak ul-Mujahidin (HUM),who advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Kashmir.HUJI-B was accused of stabbing a senior Bangladeshijournalist in November 2000 for making a documentary on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. HUJI-B wassuspected in the July 2000 assassination attempt of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.HUJI-B has anestimated cadre strength of more than several thousand members.Operates and trains members in Bangladesh,where it maintains at least six camps. Funding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. Thegroup also has ties to militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source."

Commenting on the publication of extracts from the CSIS report and the rejection of its contents by theBangladesh Government, the Bangladesh Observer said on December 12,2003: 

"True to its character, the alliance government has promptly rejected the Canadian SecurityIntelligence Service (CSIS) report that Bangladesh may emerge as a ‘haven for Islamic terrorists’. Mererejection of the report is customary, it has to be substantial. Apparently, the CSIS report is based on anumber of serious attacks by ‘radicals’ on the cultural groups in Bangladesh. It also refers to reportedhints of some Islamic groups’ collusion with Al-Qaida. Right at the moment the Canadian intelligence reporthas been published, the US and Australian Governments have warned their citizens of possible danger duringtheir movement and stay in Bangladesh. Whether this is a coincidence or something else is not known. But thepublic announcement through which the US Government keeps its visiting citizens alert fears potential attacksby international terrorists against US interests in Bangladesh."

It added: 

"It is too early to say if there is any truth or not in the CSIS report. But the powerful bomb blastsat the Udichi function in Jessore, at Bangla New Year’s function at Ramna Botomool and at the CommunistParty meeting at Paltan are an unmistakable indication of the choice of targets. It is a fact that none ofthese bombing incidents has been conclusively investigated. People do not know who were the masterminds behindall such attacks. Then there were more recent attacks on cinema halls in Mymensingh. Again, investigation hasnot led either to unearthing the cause of the attack or nabbing the perpetrators. Whether all this is a caseof intelligence failure or anything else no one knows.

"Then there are time-to-time huge and sophisticated arms, ammunition and explosive hauls. A feworganised militant Islamic groups’ clashes with the police in different places over the attempt to captureAhmadiya sect’s mosques or to smuggle in arms and explosives in some places are allowed to pass ratherquietly. If those alarming incidents were seriously followed through, no one possibly could accuse theGovernment of non-action against terrorists. Sure enough, we have passed the phase when crying hoarse thatsome quarters are busy tarnishing our non-secular image abroad would be of any use. If the process continues,we will soon be facing a credibility crisis. We must be alive to the sensitive issue of terrorism because itsglobal connotation is far stronger than we can appreciate.

"The Government however has so far firmly dealt with the fanatics bent on capturing the Ahmadiyamosques at Nakhalpara and at Sarishabari, Jamalpur. However the threat remains as long as the ultimatum fordeclaring the Ahmadiyas as non-Muslims is there. The Government must not sit on such sensitive issues. It mustopen a viable channel of negotiations with the aggressive party and convince them of the merit of peacefulco-existence of different communities. Similarly, violent incidents like the bomb blasts have to be thoroughlyprobed into both for clarity and punishment of the criminals. If the masterminds behind such incidents can bebrought to book, we will know whether the threat is a mere perceived one or more than that. Maybe, we will beable to dismiss, rather factually, that there is no possibility of the rise of ‘Islamic terrorists’ here.We do not like to be painted as a nation dominated by fundamentalists. Let the Government come clean on thisissue and stand by its claim", 

it concluded.

Earlier, in an article under the title "Is religious extremism on the rise in Bangladesh?"published by the Jane's Intelligence Review of May 2002, Bertil Lintner, the well-known columnist onSoutheast Asia, had drawn attention to the worrying developments in Bangladesh. He referred to the activitiesof organisations such as HUJI, the so-called Jihad movement, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), the Islami ChhatraShibir (ICS), the JEI's students' wing, the Islami Olkyo Jote (IOJ), which like the JEI, is a member of thepresent ruling coalition, and two organisations of Rohingya Muslim refugees from the Arakan area of Myanmarcalled the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation and to theproliferation of madrasas in Bangladesh and said:, inter alia:."Extremist influence is growing,especially in the countryside. A foreign diplomat in Dhaka said: 

"In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the leftists who were seen as incorruptible purists. Today, the rolemodel for many young men in rural areas is the dedicated Islamic cleric with his skull cap, flowing robes andbeard." As Indonesia has shown, an economic collapse or political crisis can give rise to militants forwhom religious fundamentalism equals national pride, and a way out of misrule, disorder and corrupt worldlypolitics."

His article gave the following details of the HUJI and the Jihad movement: 

"Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) - Bangladesh's main militant outfit. Set up in 1992, it now has anestimated strength of 15,000 and is headed by Shawkat Osman aka Maulana or Sheikh Farid in Chittagong. Itsmembers are recruited mainly from students of the country's madrassahs, and until last year they calledthemselves 'Bangladeshi Taliban'. The group is believed to have extensive contacts with Muslim groups in theIndian states of West Bengal and Assam. Osama bin Laden's February 23, 1998 fatwa urging jihad against the USAwas co-signed by two Egyptian clerics, one from Pakistan, and Fazlul Rahman, "leader of the JihadMovement in Bangladesh". This is not believed to be a separate organisation but a common name for severalIslamic groups in Bangladesh, of which HUJI is considered the biggest and most important."

In an article on Al Qaeda activities in Bangladesh written by its correspondent in New Delhi Alex Perry,the Time magazine of October 15, 2002, quoted sources in the HUJI and the Bangladesh military as sayingthat in July 1992 about 150 armed men belonging to the Taliban and Al Qaeda had been transported to Bangladeshfrom Afghanistan and Pakistan by a ship called"MV Mecca" and that 50 others had similarly beentransported during 2001.

The Transnational Threats Update,Volume 1 • Number9 dated June 2003 of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Washington, DC  stated asfollows: 

"The current security climate in Bangladesh may allow terrorist groups to organize an attack using aradiological dispersal device. Concerns over this possibility are plausible given that radioactive substanceshave proven accessible to terror groups operating within the country. 

A package of "semi-processed explosive-grade" uranium weighing 225 grams was recently seized fromsmugglers at the Patnitola border of Bangladesh. The material came with a user’s manual that illustrated howto build an explosive device tipped with nuclear materials. More importantly, authorities have allegedconfessions from two members of the Shahadad-ul-Hikma terrorist group who were arrested on suspicion oftransporting the package. 

This case has increased concerns because there have been multiple nuclear smuggling incidents interceptedby Bangladeshi authorities. Adding to this unease are strong links found between the shipments, implying thesmuggling operation is highly organized. Experts have assessed that the most recent consignment matches aprevious shipment confiscated in the same northwest border region. They were both from the same location, madein Russia, and marked from Kazakhstan in 1988. 

The sheer number of militant Islamist training camps operating in the region compounds the problem ofaccessible nuclear materials. The estimated number of camps varies from at least 15, according to members ofthe epistemic community, to 156, reported by Indian intelligence. According to India, among the fundamentalistorganizations present in Bangladesh are the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), All Tripura TigerForce (ATTF), the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM), the People’s Liberation Army(PLA), the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), theMuslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA), the Achijk National Volunteer Council, the Chakma NationalLiberation Front (CNLF) and the Dima Halam Daoga."

In a subsequent assessment, in which he advocated a more activist US policy in Bangladesh, Joseph J. Schatzof the Congressional Quarterly, who had traveled to Bangladesh, stated as follows: 

"While disputed by the new BNP-led Government, there are several alleged links between Osama bin Laden’sal Qaeda network and groups operating on Bangladeshi soil. In the aftermath of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombingsin Kenya and Tanzania, for which the U.S. Government blamed bin Laden, a worldwide sting operation waslaunched, which saw the Indian Government arrest Bangladeshi nationals for plotting to bomb the U.S. Embassyin Calcutta.

A Bangladeshi religious radical, Fazlul Rahman, signed bin Laden’s 1998 decree calling for the murder ofAmericans around the world. Western intelligence officials subsequently linked Rahman to terrorist cellsoperating out of southern Bangladesh. These groups allegedly have links to al Qaeda and in some casesAfghanistan’s former ruling militia, the Taliban. 

According to analysts and Bangladeshi authorities, the Bangladeshi extremist Islamic groupHarkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami allegedly received financial backing from bin Laden and sent members to train inAfghanistan.This terrorist group styles itself the "Bangladeshi Taliban" and allegedly aims to institutean extremist, Taliban-type government in Bangladesh. 

The group, which is estimated to include approximately 15,000 militants, operates out of the ChittagongHills in southern Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi authorities implicated the group in the January 1999 attemptedmurder of prominent Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman. According to the authorities, the group planned toassassinate up to 28 Bangladeshi intellectuals as part of their campaign against "enemies of Islam". 

In addition, during President Bill Clinton’s March 2000 trip to Bangladesh, his planned visit to thevillage of Joypurawas was canceled due to terrorist threats from al Qaeda, according to U.S. intelligencesources. 

The Zia Government denies that extremism and terrorism are problems in Bangladesh, and instead focusesattention on the nation’s democratic and secular values. But although the extent of al Qaeda’s influencein Bangladesh does not yet appear to be great, its alleged existence is significant because it flies in theface of the nation’s tradition of religious moderation and tolerance, and its lack of a strong Islamicfundamentalist following. It should be of direct concern to the U.S. Government, which has a tradition of verygood relations with Bangladesh."