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Bangladesh polls: Jehadis versus democratic forces

Bangladesh polls: Jehadis versus democratic forces

Author: Prajnalankar Bhikkhu
Publication: Free Press Journal
Date: December 26, 2006
URL: http://www.samachar.com/features/261206-features.html

Bangladesh is populated by 141 million people. 88% of them are Muslims. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. It was ranked the most "corrupt state" in the world for five consecutive years (2001-05) by Transparency International, a German- based independent international organization that studies corruption in various countries.

The 2001 general elections in Bangladesh voted a four-party coalition led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to power. Jamaat-e-Islam and Islamic Okyo Jote are the two major partners of the coalition widely known for their extreme Islamic radicalism.

Many Islamic extremist groups and organizations mushroomed under the Khaleda Zia government and gained strong ground in the Islamic state (in the sense of recognition of Islam as "state religion": Part I, Article 2 A, Bangladesh Constitution). A study conducted by the Daily Star, an English daily in Dhaka, "over several months", as it claims, has come up with some startling information.

It identified the presence of over 30 extremist Islamic radical networks in the country. The study, entitled "Inside the Militant Groups-1: Trained in foreign lands, they spread inland", says "...Over 30 religious militant organizations have set up their network across the country since 1989 with the central objective of establishing an Islamic state. Many of them have given armed training to their members to conduct jehad" (The Daily Star, Internet edition, 21 August 2005, Dhaka).

Some of these groups and organizations are Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Qwami Madrassa, Sama Adhikar Andolan (mainly active in the Chittagong Hill Tracts), Harkatul Jihad, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Islami Biplobi Parishad, Shahadat Al Hiqma, Hizbut Towhid, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Ahle Hadith Andolon, Towhidi Janata, Bishwa Islami Front, Juma'atul Sadat, Al Jomiatul Islamia, Iqra Islami Jote, Allahr Dal, Al Khidmat Bahini, Al Mujhid, Jama'ati Yahia Al Turag, Jihadi Party, Al Harkat al Islamia, Al Mahfuz Al Islami, Jama'atul Faladia, Shahadat-e- Nabuwat, Joish-e-Mostafa, Tahfize Haramaine Parishad, Hizbul Mojahedeen, Duranta Kafela, Muslim Guerrilla, Al-Haramain Foundation (AHF) and Al Rabeta Foundation.

The study reveals that these groups have a "nexus with mainstream political parties"and "unrelenting access to arms", and the government's "blind eye" made it possible for them to thrive in Bangladesh.

Many activists of these groups, says the study, are Afghanistan and Palestinian war veterans who fought there after receiving training in Pakistan, Libya and Palestine.

After returning to Bangladesh, they scattered over the country and started militant activities. Initially, a number of them set up madrasas as cover, mainly toeing the Qwami line, which is the more orthodox system of Islamic education and needs no government registration. They chose the forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), mosques and the Qwami madrasas mainly in the north to train their activists.

Camps of these Jehadis with arms are specifically visible in Muslim dominated areas in Bandarban Hill District of the CHT like Ruma, Lama, Alikadam and Nakhyangchari and Teknaf, Ramu and Cox's Bazaar areas in Southern Chittagong.

Many of these Jehadis reportedly live in Rohingha refugee camps and settlements in Bandarban and Southern Chittagong and provide training, arms and funds to them to fight against the authorities in Myanmar.

The Jehadi groups and organisations are funded by Saudi and Kuwait-based Islamic organizations, like Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), and have connections with international Islamist terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, Taleban and Jamia-Islamia (Indonesia) [The Daily Star, 21 August 2005, Dhaka].

Many remnants of al-Qaeda and Taleban fled to Bangladesh after the US-led coalition strikes on Afghanistan and Pakistan's drive under US pressure to crack down on "Islamic terrorist groups" in its territory. They have regrouped in Bangladesh with support from the BNP-led coalition government, military establishments and home-grown Jehadi forces.

Poverty and corruption in the poor Islamic state and the sympathy and support of the coalition government were used by these "fugitives" highly trained in sophisticated arms and terrors and rich in resources. It led to the creation of a suitable environment for resurrection of national and international Jehadi forces in the country.

This is obviously the reason why Eliza Griswold predicts Bangladesh to be the centre of "Next Islamist Revolution" (The New York Times Magazine, 23 January 2005). In fact, Bangladesh is now a new meeting point of national and international Islamic Jehadi forces. This fact has also been well-documented in the Alex Perry's "Deadly Cargo" (The New York Times Magazine, 21 October 2002) and Bertil Lintner's "Bangladesh: A Cocoon of Terror" (The Far Eastern Economic Review, 4 April 2002).

But the Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on 1 July 2003 told parliament that no al-Qaeda men exist in Bangladesh. "There are no fundamentalists or zealots in the country," she told Ulemas (Islamic scholars) on 6 September 2003. However, as early as March 8, 1999, Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Fazlul Haq Amini told a public meeting, "We are for Osama [bin Laden], we are for the Taliban and we will be in government in 2000 through an Islamic revolution"

"An Islamic revolution will take place by Qwami madarassas," Amini said at an Islamic conference in Comilla on March 1 this year. "By terming us gun runners and terrorists, Qwami madrasa movement cannot be stopped," he added.

The Jehadi forces are reportedly using the Southern CHT, Cox's Bazaar, Ukhiya and Teknaf as routes to smuggle illegal arms from South-east Asian countries. Recently, news was flashed in Bangladesh media regarding procurement of illegal arms by Jehadi groups and their allied political gangs. Experts have voiced concern over possible use of these illegal arms by them against their political oppositions before and during the elections.

BNP's four-party coalition has made a "fraudulent" voter list in which 10.7 million voters, who are believed to be supporters of the Awami League led 14-party alliance, have not been included. Nonetheless, over 100,000 Rohingha refugees from Myanmar, who are believed to be supporters of the BNP and its allies, have been included.

If the caretaker government manages to have its way, it will bring back to power BNP coalition and Jehadi forces to power. The 14- party alliance has hit the streets to expose these designs. They have set conditions for their participation in the election. These conditions include constitution of a non-biased and neutral Election Commission, preparation of a new voter list that includes all eligible voters.

I conclude my write-up with the words of an eminent minority rights activist of Bangladesh (name is being withheld for security reasons): "Bangladesh election 2007 is a contest between Jehadis and democratic forces. No democratic and progressive force will survive in Bangladesh if the Jehadis come to power in this election".


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