Noted Bangladeshi writer Humayun
Azad, who was murdered in Munich, last Friday, had escaped an attempt on
his life in February this year. For quite some time, his liberal leanings
had made him the target of the country's growing tribe of Islamic fundamentalists.
His death has confirmed what India and the rest of the international community
had been fearing for quite some time: Bangladesh's civil society is under
siege.
Recent months have seen a spate
of death threats being issued by Islamic undamentalists on secular and
liberal intellectuals of Bangladesh. This is causing concern to the international
diplomatic community. What is most shocking is the Khaleda Zia regime's
indifference to the trend already set by the murder of two prominent journalists
earlier this year and the attempt on the life of Azad. After recovering
from his knife wounds, the writer had gone to Germany to undertake a research
project on the romantic German writer Heinrich Heine
"The number of militant outfits is increasing and very often we see persons close to the government acting as their spokespersons", a diplomat told The Pioneer. One of the most prominent names in this category is Mr Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury, the Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs to the Prime Minister. The activities of Chowdhury are understood to be under scanner for a long time.
The Khaleda Zia Government has backed him for the post of Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, but he failed to get elected.
On July 31, Chowdhury had presided over a meeting of Islamic extremists held at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka. At this meeting, sources say, a decision was taken to kill Mr Shahriyar Kabir, acting president of the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Dr Kazi Faroque Ahmed, president of a group called "Proshika" which is linked to the opposition Awami League, and Mr Kazi Mukul, a freedom fighter.
This development, observers comment, is taken most seriously because all the men targeted are well-known resisters of the growing clout enjoyed by fundamentalists. "They do carry out their threats - two journalists, Manik Saha and Humayun Kabir Balu, have already been killed and now we have Azad's murder which has been executed in distant Germany. This may vindicate those who believe that Bangladesh's fundamentalists are part of the Al-Qaeda's international network", a diplomat said.
The situation is so serious that the international media has started reporting and commenting on these trends quite openly. For instance, Voice of America, in a recent bulletin said that university teachers, anti-fundamentalist politicians and journalists are under siege in Bangladesh. The persons named as belonging to the black list include Awami League MPs Abdur Razzaq and Tofail Ahmed, Workers' Party president Rashed Khan Menon and teachers Muntasir Mamun and Shahriar Kabir. These people have been served letters stating they would be "executed in public". The letters also laid bare their senders' plans to hoist the "flags of Islam and Bangladesh soaked in their blood".
Mrs Zia came to power with a landslide verdict in October 2001, with the backing of the hardcore Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jot. The timing of her victory coincided with the beginning of the United States -led global war against terrorism. Most anti-terrorism experts hold that Al-Qaeda elements fleeing Afghanistan in the aftermath of the coalition forces' attack established several modules inside Bangladesh. The Dhaka establishment either looked the other way or colluded to make this possible, sources say.
The suspected involvement of Salahuddin
Qader Chowdhury holds out an additional threat. A former collaborator with
the Pakistani Army in 1971, Chowdhury is understood to enjoy the patronage
of the Pakistani ISI. He owns a shipping firm called "QC Shipping" which
is often used to ship arms meant for militant groups operating in India's
North-East. On April 22, US intelligence tipped off the Bangladeshi Navy
and forced the latter to seize a ship of Chowdhury's lines. Guns and bombs
worth $ four million were found in it. Yet Chowdhury continues to walk
a free man.