The government of India is reported to have advised a short postponement of the departure of the Indian cricket team to Bangladesh to play in some matches against the Bangladesh team at Dhaka and Chittagong following the receipt at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka of a fax message purported to have been signed by an organisation called Harkat-ul-Jihad warning of dire consequences if the team went ahead with the visit.
A team of officials headed by a police officer of the rank of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has been deputed by thegovernment of India to Dhaka to study, in consultation with the Bangladesh authorities, the security arrangements being made and the ground situation and assess whether it would be advisable for the Indian team to undertake the visit.
The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, through a spokesman, has reportedly described the fax message as a hoax and assured that there would be no threat to the security of the Indian team.
It is apparent that the message has been sent by someone not well disposed towards India, who does not want the visit to take place. The tour is taking place at a time when the security situation in Bangladesh has been a cause for concern to the international community due to the unwillingness or inability of thegovernment of Begum Khaleda Zia to take effective action against Islamicfundamentalist elements and pro-bin Laden jihadi terrorist groups, which have made Bangladesh a new epicenter of jihadi terrorism ever since the international coalition led by the US dismantled the terrorist infrastructure of Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF) in Afghanistan post-9/11.
The fundamentalist and jihadi terrorist elements presently active in Bangladesh territory fall into the following broad groups::