Thereafter, the HUJI remained quite active till 1996, when 41 of its cadres were arrested by the police at a secret training camp in Cox's Bazar with arms and ammunition, but they were subsequently released on bail. All of them went underground. In February, 1998, the HUJI (B) joined Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF) for Jihad against the Crusaders and the Jewish People as one of its founding members. Since then, the Bangladesh authorities were not able to trace and arrest any of its office-bearers despite reports of their involvement in many terrorist incidents, including an unsuccessful attempt to kill Sheikh Hasina, former Prime Minister. The October 1, 2005, arrest of Mufti Hannan is the first important arrest of an absconding HUJI leader by the local police.
Surprisingly, the Bangladesh authorities have not so far shown any interest in having his role in the unsuccessful attack on Sheikh Hasina investigated, and in having him prosecuted. Instead, they have been highlighting his suspected role in the the large-scale serial blasts of August 17, 2005, and in the subsequent terrorist strikes against lawyers and judges. While making a pretence of vigorous action to trace, arrest and prosecute those involved in the terrorist incidents of August 17, 2005, and thereafter, which were directed against government and judicial targets, they have been avoiding any vigorous investigation of terrorist strikes against Sheikh Hasina and other political opponents of the present Government.
The terrorist incidents since August 17, 2005, have fallen into the following pattern:
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- Targeted attacks against Government buildings and public places using low-grade explosives in miniscule quantities in such a manner as not to cause large-scale human fatalities.
- Targeted attacks against lawyers and judges using stronger explosives in larger quantities in order to cause human fatalities.
- Faxed threats of attacks against the US, British and other Western diplomatic missions sent by someone under the name of Al Qaeda in South Asia.
The local police have largely blamed the JUM for the first two types of incidents. They have not yet been able to establish who is behind the faxed threats against Western diplomaticmissions--whether these were hoax messages or whether there is something more serious in them. Interestingly, similar threats of terrorist strikes against the Chinese diplomatic mission and Chinese touristic and financial centres in Hong Kong and other parts of China have been circulating in Pakistan. However, there is so far no evidence to connect the two.
The JUM, which calls for the Talibanisation of Bangladesh and the imposition of the Sharia, has been targeting the lawyers and judges as representing the Western, non-Islamic judicial system presently in force in the country. Another apparent reason for its targeting the lawyers and the judiciary is to intimidate them into giving bail for 400 of its followers so far rounded up by the Police for their suspected involvement in terrorism. Even though it has been critical of the US-led occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, it did not target any Western diplomatic missions in Dhaka in its widespread terrorist strikes of August 17, 2005.
There is a hotch-potch of jihadi terrorist groups operating in different parts of Bangladesh. Apart from the two banned in February and the HUJI, some of the others are the Ahle Hadith Andolan, the Shahadat Al Hikma, and a number of Arakan rebel groups. A Rohingya group, which was originally formed by Pakistan-based Maulana Abdul Quddus and which had participated in the Afghan jihad along with HUJI (B), is now projecting itself as the HUJI, Myanmar. There is similarly a HUJI, Pattani, which claims to be behind the jihad in Southern Thailand. Particulars of its leadership are not available.
During his interrogation by the Police, Mufti Hannan is reported to have denied any involvement in jihadi terrorism and blamed the Ahle Hadith Andolan for the terrorist incidents in Bangladesh. The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) has also opened a branch in Bangladesh, but it has not so far come to notice for any involvement in acts of terrorism in Bangladesh territory. It confines its activities to providing logistic support to the operations of the LET in Indian Territory from its sanctuaries in Bangladesh.
Apart from Hannan, the Bangladesh Police has not so far been able to arrest any of the important leaders of these organisations. Their command and control remains intact. The reluctance of the Government of Bangladesh to act effectively against the mushrooming Wahabi terrorist groups is facilitating the growth in Bangladesh of a jihadi terrorist infrastructure similar to what prevailed in Afghanistan before 9/11. This could pose a serious threat to peace and security in the belt extending from India'sNortheast to Southern Thailand.
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B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India,, and Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai.
