BANGALORE - With insurgents from
India, Myanmar and Thailand and jihadis from
Afghanistan, Indonesia and the Philippines all flocking
to Bangladesh for refuge and training, the country is
fast acquiring an image of being a haven for terrorist
groups.
Of the militant groups in Bangladesh, it
is the network and infrastructure of the Bangladesh unit
of the Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) (Movement of
Islamic Holy War) that is growing the fastest.
The origins of the Bangladesh unit of HuJI can
be traced back to Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was to
fight the Soviets in Afghanistan that HuJI - a Sunni
extremist group of the Deoband tradition - was first set
up in 1980. In 1992, a Bangladesh unit of HuJI was set
up, reportedly with direct assistance from Osama bin
Laden. HuJI has strong links with al-Qaeda - it is a
member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front
(IIF). Today, HuJI is said to have about 15,000 members,
including 2,000 hardcore fighters. Its members are
recruited mainly from Bangladesh's 60,000
madrassas (seminaries) and exported to other
countries.
Bangladesh shares a 4,095-kilometer
border with India. Among the five Indian states with
which Bangladesh shares borders are the
insurgency-wracked states of Tripura and Assam in
India's northeast. Hundreds of illegal migrants,
smugglers and insurgents cross the hard-to-police
India-Bangladesh border. To the southeast, Bangladesh
shares borders with Myanmar, which is also
conflict-ridden. The terrain here is rugged and thickly
forested, providing useful cover for moving fighters and
weapons through Myanmar to the rest of Southeast Asia.
But it is the coastal area around the
Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong that has proved most
useful to HuJI's gun-running. And it is here - the area
around Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar - that HuJI has built
its bases. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal,
HuJI maintains "six camps in the hilly areas of
Chittagong, where its cadres were trained in the use of
weapons. Unconfirmed reports also hold that it maintains
six training camps near Cox's Bazaar."
HuJI's
primary mission in Bangladesh was to establish Islamic
rule, evident by its slogan: "Amra sobai hobo
Taliban, Bangla hobe Afghanistan" (We will all be
Taliban and Bangladesh will be Afghanistan). Like the
Taliban, HuJI regards music, dance and movies as
unIslamic and corrupting influences. It is opposed to
Indian and Western cultural influences in Bangladesh, as
it sees these as Hindu and Christian, respectively.
HuJI has a history of carrying out violent
attacks on secular and progressive intellectuals,
writers and journalists. In 2000, it assassinated a
senior Bangladeshi journalist for making a documentary
on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. Many secular
intellectuals, including the controversial feminist
writer Taslima Nasreen, have figured in its hit list.
HuJI was the prime suspect in the assassination attempt
in 2000 on then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is
also the leader of the secular, center-left Awami
League. Many of the bomb explosions and grenade attacks
in Bangladesh in recent years are said to have been
masterminded by HuJI.
While HuJI's original
mission was to set up Islamic rule in Bangladesh, its
ambitions and the geographical spread of its role have
grown substantially over the years. During the 1990s, it
was involved in training Muslim Rohingya insurgents from
Myanmar. HuJI sent its members to fight in Afghanistan
and against Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
HuJI provided sanctuary for Indian insurgents from the
northeast.
That Bangladesh Islamist radicals
would become a key link in the al-Qaeda-led global jihad
network was evident by the late-1990s. Among the five
signatories to bin Laden's February 23, 1998 call for
"jihad against the Jews and crusaders" was Fazlur
Rahman, who was representing the "jihad movement of
Bangladesh". HuJI is a constituent of this movement.
HuJI's profile in terrorist circles rose rapidly
post-September 11, 2001. With the fall of Kandahar in
late 2001, Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters were forced to
flee Afghanistan. Bangladesh emerged as a new nest for
many of them. As early as December 21, 2001, around 150
heavily armed Arabs and Afghans arrived at Chittagong
port aboard the MV Mecca. HuJI is said to have hosted
them and the subsequent waves of al-Qaeda fighters.
HuJI's post-September 11 responsibilities to
further the jihadi cause have grown considerably. It
appears to have been made responsible for training
jihadi fighters from southern Thailand, Cambodia,
Indonesia and Brunei. It is now said to be sending its
fighters to Indonesia, the Philippines and Chechnya. Its
profile in the world of terrorism has increased. HuJI's
hand is suspected in two assassination attempts against
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and in the
attempt in August this year to kill Hasina, now leader
of the Bangladesh opposition. It is said to have played
a major role in the attack on the US consulate in
Kolkata two years ago.
Bangladesh's general
election in October 2001 threw up a government that
provided a favorable environment for Islamist outfits
like HuJI to flourish. A new coalition government led by
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power in that
election. The ruling coalition includes two Islamic
fundamentalist parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the
Islamic Oikya Jote. Both have openly expressed support
to the Taliban and al-Qaeda and there are close links
between these parties and HuJI. The Islamic Oikya Jote's
chairman, Azizul Huq, is said to be a member of HuJI's
advisory council.
Powerful patrons in government
have enabled HuJI to flourish. HuJI has powerful patrons
abroad as well. It has received funds from bin Laden.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, HuJI
receives financial assistance from Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and Afghanistan through Muslim non-governmental
organizations in Bangladesh, including Adarsa Kutir,
al-Faruk Islamic Foundation and Hataddin.
Intelligence and security agencies describe the
threat posed by HuJI to global security as potential
rather than imminent. Preoccupied with other hot spots,
they are not paying adequate attention to the growing
network and capacity of HuJI. Meanwhile, this terrorist
outfit is spreading its tentacles quietly.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent
journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
(Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.)
