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Bangladesh:
Pakistan's alter ego
Romeet
K WATT
Ever
since Bangladesh came into being in 1971, many of its 130
million populace have had ‘identity crisis’ of sorts on whether
they are Bengalis first or whether their Muslim religion should take
primacy in their lives. For centuries, Bengalis have been unified by a
culture of tolerance that confronts the common South Asian division
between Hindu and Muslim. It is ironical that analogous crisis surfaced in Kashmir - over a
period of time - on whether to identify with Kashmiriat – an
ethos, and a way of living or should their being Muslims be the
important parameter, which should govern their future course of
action.
The
description of Bangladesh as a country where fundamentalism is
flourishing comes as a rude shock to its vast Muslim populace given
the fact that the nation itself was born at the end of a civil war
against fundamentalism. But there has always been two schools of
thought in the country – one that closely identifies with the
"spirit of 1971", and the other who still follow the
two-nation theory, and relate to the "spirit of 1947." The
protagonists of former school of thought are now in opposition,
while the latter are an important constituent of the present regime.
It is in this context that one needs to examine the facts about the
success of fundamentalists in spreading their network in the
country.
Bangladesh,
it is factual, is no Afghanistan, or even Pakistan but having spent
15 years under martial rule and, while democracy was restored in
1990, the political scene remains unstable. The animosity between
the Awami League, which was voted out of power at end of its term in
July 2001, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the largest party
in the four-party alliance government, has little to do with ideological differences, and is by
and large characterised by the personal animosity between their
leaders.
The
Jamaat-e-Islami, - which has in the past opposed Bangladesh's
independence from Pakistan - now a part of the government is
believed to have provided benefaction to the Islamic Jihadis, and is
also the main power behind the astonishing increase of unlicensed
madrasas in the past decade. Estimates indicate that there are
20,000 to 25,000 such schools (and 190,000
mosques) in
Bangladesh, of which a sizable number are singularly dedicated to
propagate ultra-fundamentalist ideology, and in many cases providing
arms training to the students.
Islami
Oikya Jote (IOJ), right-wing organisation is another important
member of the government headed by Begum Khalida Zia. Pro-Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islami has 16 members of parliament, and two powerful
Ministers - Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad
Mujahid – in the present dispensation. Both these Islamic fundamentalist parties have a history of links to terror
groups. Islamic Oikya Jote is a known sympathiser and supporter of
Islamic fundamentalism, now defunct Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Analysts
also point out that IOJ is also closely associated with Harkat–ul-Jehadi-Islami
(HUJI), an organisation, which has been patronised, analysts
confirm, by Bin Laden since 1993.
The
presence of two hard-line parties in the government shows that the
country is tempted to discard its traditional moderate Bengali
image, something which is confirmed by repeated attacks on the
members of the minority Hindu community, who are being persecuted by
Islamic hardliners linked to elements of the government. The
previous Awami League government had introduced some measures to
curb the activities of the group and had arrested several of its
leaders and cadres. Evidently, the new right wing regime has shaped
a more sympathetic perspective for the operation of extremist forces
in the country.
HUJI
is headed by Showkat Osman a.k.a Sheikh Farid while Imtiaz Quddus is
the General Secretary, and has a reported strength of 13,000 cadres.
The organisation, intelligence agencies confirm has six to eight
arms training camps in the hilly areas of Chittagong. The cadre are
derived primarily from students of various madrasas and have close
links with terrorist groups, including those in India’s Northeast,
such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and closely
coordinates its activities with Pakistan’s Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI), which provides patronage.
HUJI
many believe is an extended arm of Al Qaeda in Bangladesh, and has
been involved in various attacks within the country, and analysts
confirm the international linkage between the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM),
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and HUJI based in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The HUJI has been involved in
scores of bombings, including two attempted assassinations of then
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July 2000. HUJI finds natural allies in Muslim
guerrillas from India hiding across the border, and in Muslim
Rohingyas, thousands of who fled the religious repression of the
Burmese stratocracy over the years.
HUJI,
analysts point out receives financial assistance from Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan through Muslim Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) in Bangladesh, including Adarsa Kutir, Al Faruk
Islamic Foundation and Hataddin. Operational linkages also exist
with a number of foreign Islamist organisations and militants. HUJI
has also been on the fore-front of recruiting Bangladeshi and Indian
Muslims to fight in Jammu and Kashmir under the command of Harkat-ul-
Mujahadeen. Various terrorist groups operating in India’s
Northeast continue to find safe retreats and operational bases on
Bangladeshi territory for dissident activities against India.
A
significant section of the population in the country accept as true
that Bangladesh cannot isolate itself from the fundamentalists'
agenda, and are in no better position than Pakistan given that the
right-wing wing elements have become powerful in their own way by
ensuring fair representation for themselves in the given
dispensation. Tackling it head-on might activate, analysts point, a
violent backlash. Moreover, both the right-wing parties in the
coalition are using fronts, some kind of alibis for plausible
deniability, should the situation warrant.
In
the post 9/11 scenario, Jamaat-e-Islami is strained to project
itself as a moderate face, and has, as analysts suggests delegated
the militant activities to its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, who have been involved in a series
of bomb attacks and killings. On the face of it, Jamaat-e-Islami pledges
support to the war against terror, however deep down they are
continuing with the programme of aiding and abetting terrorists for
Jihad in India, and Afghanistan.
Despite
having pledged its support against international terrorism, reports
indicate that Bangladesh is yet to curtail some of its covert aid to
terrorist groups operating in India. The Directorate of General
Forces Intelligence (DGFI), a section of Bangladeshi army, and the
ISI are know to maintain close contacts with each other. Pakistan
is also believed to be making use of its high commission in Dhaka as
a nerve centre for the activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence agency.
The
Americans are determined to maintain a conciliatory approach,
conveniently overlooking allegations that high ranking members of Al
Qaeda are hiding in Bangladesh, and surprising as it may sound,
strongly backing the Khaleda Zia government. Not that they
are not aware of the turbulence prevalent in the country due to the
alarming rise of right-wing elements in the society, but then at
least one thing is consistent – they are homogeneous in their
policy towards Pakistan and Bangladesh, both having pledged
"strong support" to the U.S-led "war against
terror".
Khaleda
Zia, took a leaf out of Musharraf’s book, when in the aftermath of
9/11, she made it known that Bangladesh is solidly behind the Bush
administration in fighting global terrorism, and established herself
a staunch member of the international coalition against terrorism.
Despite growing evidence, otherwise, US continue to overlook the
overarching threat that the country might pose in times to come. On
the contrary, it is ironical and amusing that President George W.
Bush, in a recent letter to the new Bangladesh President, Prof.
Iajuddin Ahmed, lauded the country's commitment to combating
terrorism.
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