The fanatic Islamic fundamentalist groups have been spreading poisonous air in the political arena of Bangladesh. The militant organs of these organizations are engaged in terrorist activities through a network of cadres all over the country. They even raised trained women cadres in the name of Zikir. In order to form a new generation of cadres, they targeted the poor and meritorious students in the form of awarding financial support for higher studies. They have also penetrated in the professional groups including the civil service and the military. In order to impart training to the recruits, the militant groups have opened secret training camps at different parts of the country. Some of the training camps were detected in the inaccessible hilly areas of Chittagong, sandy River beds of Jamalpur and Gaibandha districts, refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Farm Projects and deep forests of Hathazari. In these training camps, training for using various types of light arms, throwing of grenades, making of bombs and use of explosives etc are given. The trainers of these training camps are mostly war veterans from Afganistan. Mosques, Madrashas and even dewelling houses all over the country are also used for training purposes. They are spreading very fast due to inactions and indirect patronization of the administration. Besides, some of the NGO’s has also come forward in assistance of the militant terrorist groups. The militant groups have got direct or indirect link with the international Islami terrorist organizations like Al-Quaida. Some Middle-East countries like Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Quater and the U.A.E are also financing them in the name of charity and NGO’s. The terrorist organization have started their activities in Bangladesh since 1979 when the military ruler General Ziaur Rahman was in power under the political banner of B.N.P. During this long period of 25 years, the number of the terrorist groups has multiplied manifold. At present, the following 33 militant terrorist groups are active in Bangladesh:-

1. Jamatul-Mujahideen Bangladesh; 2. Shahdat-E-Al Hikma; 3. Jamat-E-Yeaheya-Al-Turat; 4. Hizbut Touhid; 5. Al-Harat-Al–Islamia; 6. Al-Markajul-Al-Islami; 7. Jamatul Faliaya; 8. Touhidi Janata; 9. International Islami Front; 10. Jummatul-Al-Sadat; 11. Shahadat-E-Naboyed; 12. Harkatul Zihad; 13. Allahar Dal; 14. Joisea Mustafa Bangladesh. 15. Al-Zihad Bangladesh; 16. World Islamic front for Zihad; 17. Joisea Mohammed; 18. Jamat-ul-Muzahidul Bangladesh; 19. Warot Islamic front; 20. Jamat-us-Sadat; 21. Al-Khidmat; 22. Jagrato Muslim Janata Bangladesh (J.M.J.B); 23. Harkot-E-Islam-Al-Zihad; 24. Hizbullah Islami Shomaj; 25. Muslim Millat Sharia Council; 26. Ahele Hadith; 27. Hizbul Mahadi; 28. Basbid; 29. Hizbut Tahrir; 30. Al-Quaida; 31. Al-Islam Martyrs Brigade; 32. International Khotme Noboyet Movement and 33. Amora Dhakabashi.

Besides the above 33 militant fanatic terrorist groups, the Rohinga Refugees coming from Arakan Province of Myanmar also indulged in terrorist activities in Cox’s Bazar area in different names. The location of these Refugee camps being at the south-eastern border of Bangladesh, they are also used as safe corridor for bringing in smuggled arms & different kinds of drugs and heroines etc.

Meanwhile, The militant terrorist groups have created reins of terror in Bangladesh threatening the existence of the nation. But the Govt. remained totally indifferent on this burning issue.

At last, on 23rd February, 2005 the Government of the 4 Party Alliance had suddenly cracked-down on two of the Islamic Militants. Two terrorist militant organizations namley Jamatul Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) have been banned. Some of the top leaders of these two Groups have also been detained and the others are on run. During the last three and half year's rule, the BNP-Jamat coalition Government had been vehemently denying existence of any militant Islamic terrorist groups in the Country. On the otherhand, the opposition Political parties, the Civil Society, the Journalists and the International Community had been warning the Government about the danger of rapid rise of the Islamic militant groups and their terrorist activities. But the Government instead of paying any heed to these warnings had been accusing the opposition Parties and the media for harming the image of the country by raising the issue of Islamic militant terrorists. They even went on saying that the claim for existence of the militant terrorists groups are the creation of the media. In fact no such groups exists in the country. In some cases, the government machinery instead of taking any action against the terrorist groups cracked down on the political leaders, Journalist and even the commoners who innocently spoke about danger of the Islamic militant groups. Under such a conflicting situation, what suddenly prompted the Government to crack down on the Islamic militants? Such action of the Government seems to be suspicious and mysterious. People has already termed this action of the Government as simple eye-wash and an attempt to appease the Donor Agencies. They are also suspicious about the sincerity of the Government in crushing down the numerous Islamic militants groups operating all over the country.

The suspicious self-contradictory and mysterious acts of the Government in dealing with the Islamic terrorist groups is based on facts and events. Prior to recent crack down on two of the Islamic militant groups on 23 February 2005, the police identified a number of militant groups operating in different parts of the country. Police also detected some of their training comps and secret hides. In some cases, a good number of suspects were arrested on different criminal charges. The police did these only as a course of their normal crime prevention duty. But, the police and the other law enforcing agencies could not proceed further due to absence of any political commitment of the government in addressing the Islamic militant issue. Not only this, the government showed indifferences and in some cases expressed annoyance on such police actions. As a result, the arrested terrorists got released either from police custody or from the court. In this way, the militant terrorists had been awarded some sorts of impunity which in turn helped them to grow more, Government attitude and stand towards the Islamic terrorists would be clear from the following few instances:

• During the tenure of the BNP-Jamat government, 5 members of terrorists were arrested in 2002. The number of arrestees in 2003 were 72 and in 2004 were 126. Within 2 months of 2005 i.e. upto 28 February, 152 Islamic militants were arrested. But most of them were released on the ground that they belong to BNP-Jamat alliance.
• Members of the recently banned Jamatul-Mujahideen were first arrested on 19 May, 2002. On that day 8 militant terrorists were arrested from the village of Bazarpara of No. 5 Chandipur U.P. under Parbatipur Upazila of Dianajpur District. They were arrested red-handed with 24 Petrol bombs & other devices during training at midnight. On interrogation, they disclosed to the police that they are the followers of Bin-Laden. But, later on all of them got released from the Higher Court on bail.
• On 25th April, 2003, 8 members of Jamatul-Mujahideen were arrested form Kalia Upazila Joypurhat District under section 54 Cr. P.C. They were acquitted later on when police submitted final report (i.e. Charges not proved) in the case.
• 19 numbers of terrorist were arrested on 14 August 2003 during gun fight between the police and the terrorists while looting Police arms at North Mohespur of Joypurhat District. On 17 August 2002, Mr. Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) accompanied by his armed cadres raided the house of Mr. Tarapada Podder, the General Secretary of Awami League of Gaola Union in Mollahat of Bagerhat Distrcit with intention to kill him. But, the villagers caught Bangla Bhai alongwith 12 other militants red handed with arms & ammunitions and handed them over to the police. Later on, the name of Bangla Bhai was dropped from the Charge-sheet. Subsequently, the other FIR named accuseds also got release.
• Hisboot Tawhid leader Mr. Shorab Khan of Barisal Distrcit was released twice after arrest. Four members of the same organization arrested in Meherpur on 17 March, 2003 were also released unilaterally.
• 7 members of the banned Jamatul-Mujahidden were arrested from Joypurhat on 16 April 2003. Out of then police submitted the time prayers in the court for shown arrest of Mr. Masud, Mr. Raju and Mr. Sujaul who were involved in the 5 murder cases of Begun Village in Kalia. But Subsequently they got release under influence of invisible power.
• On 12 November 2004, Mr. Amjad Hossain and Mr. Sajedur Rahman-both Members of the terrorist militant groups were arrested alongwith 24 Bombs and 124 Detonators from Bonerpara Railway Station of Saghata Upazial under the District of Gaibandha while they were traveling by train. So far, there is no progress in this case. Moreover, accused Mr. Amjad Hossain came out from custody on bail.
• On 30 June, 2004 Police with assistance from the villagers arrested 33 terrorists from the Sialia Mosque under Borgona Distrcit. Surprisingly, the Investigating (I.O.) officer of the case submitted charge-sheet against only 6 terrorists. As a result, the other 27 accuseds were released from the Court. Those 6 terrorists were also released on bail within 6 day's of submission of charge sheet.

The above are some of the evidences of Government attitude towards the Islamic militants. When patronization of the militants in different forms is the clear policy of the Government, what suddenly prompted them to crack-down on the militants? Such actions of the Government seems to be mysterious. The mysterious actions of the Government might have resulted from the following facts.

The Government felt embarrassed when grenade and bomb attacks were made on BRAC and Grameen Bank on 17 February, 2005. It is a widely known fact that Mr. Muyeed Chowdhury?the present Executive Direction of BRAC played a crucial role in brining the BNP-Jamat Alliance to power in the October 2001 General election. At that time, he was an adviser of the Care-Taker Government of infamous Justice Latifur Rahman. Before joining BRAC, Mr., Muyeed Chowdhury was a Secretary of the Government. His strong affiliation with Jamat is also Known. However, Mr. Chowdhury was allowed to go on normal retirement during the tenure of the Awami League Government. He might have wished re-appointment as Secretary on contract basis which the Awami League Government could not allow on principle. This fact might have angered/aggrieved Mr. M Muyeed Chowdhury against Awami League. Appointment of Mr. Chowdhury as an Adviser of the Care-Taker Government gave him an opportunity to take revenge against Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League. So, Mr. Muyeed Chowdhury indulged in a deep conspiracy in collaboration with some of his ex-colleagues like Dr. Kamaluddin Siddiqui, Dr. Shah Mohammad Farid, Mr. Shahidul Alam and Mr. Fazlur Rahman to keep Awami League out of power. It is widely believed that those Secretaries are the architect of October 2001 farcical election. Mr. Chowdhuary played the key role in this regard by utilizing his office as Adviser of the Care-Taker Government. As a consequence of their conspiracy, the BNP-Jamat Alliance came to power. Naturally, this government is indebted to them. So, all of them except Mr. Muyeed Chowdhury were rewarded in many ways from prize posting to several times contractual appointments. When the Islamic militants belonging to the partners of coalition Government have started attacking the offices of BRAC of Which Mr. Chowdhury is the top Executive, time for the government came to repay him. Earlier, the militants made serious of attacks on some other NGO's including the leading NGO Prashika. But the Government remained silent on those incidents. But, the attack on BRAC has been considered to be a Frankenstein one. Militants nursed & patronzed by the BNP-Jamat alliance has now started attacking NGO's like BRAC managed by their own people. Mr. Muyeed Chowdhury also reacted sharply on these terrorists attacks. Accordingly, the Government acted to rescue their trustworthy friend Mr. Chowdhury and his organization form disaster.

Attacks on the offices of Grameen Bank also embarrassed the government. The simultaneous grenade & bomb attacks on BRAC and Grameen Bank thus promoted the government to limit the activities of the Islamic militants.

On the other hand, attacks on BRAC and Grameen Bank by the Islamic militants also disturbed the Donor Agencies because of their world-wide popularity. They viewed these terrorist attacks very seriously. The Donor Agencies were also annoyed with the indifference and inactions of the government against the rapidly rising fundamentalist forces. Assassination of former Finance Minister Mr. SAMS Kibria by throwing grenade followed by attacks on BRAC & Grammen Bank offices has tremendously shaped the world community including U.S.A. As a result International pressure on the government to stop recurrence of such incidents has mounted-up.

All these cumulative facts and events have resulted holding of the meeting of the Aid groups and Donor Agencies for Bangladesh in Washington on 23-24 February 2005 keeping Bangladesh aside. Holding of any Aid Group meeting for Bangladesh without the presence of Bangladesh is unprecedented. So, when the Government found that the Aid groups meeting is going to commence on 23 February 2005 without any participation from Bangladesh, they really became nervious as well as irritated. It was also a clear message for the coalition Government that they are being isolated from the International community. Whatever, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister say in public, the Government understood that without support & assistance from the International Community particularly the Donor Agencies, it would be difficult for them to survive. Thus, fall of the government had become almost eminent. Understanding this reality, the government made a last movement attempt to appease the Donor Agencies in meeting in Washington on 23-24 February, 2005. In order to achieve this objective, the Government of Alliance surprisingly issued an official press Note on 22 February night banning 2 of the militant terrorist organizations namely Jamatul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). The ban was followed by arrest of Professor Dr. Asadulla Al Galib, Main leader of Jamataul-Mujahideen alongwith 3 of this accomplices from Rajshahi. Dozens of Dr. Galib's followers were also held from other Districts. During police interrogation, some of them disclosed Bin-Laden as their spiritual leader. They also admitted receiving funds from Bin-Laden source as well as from other Middle-East countries. Their objective is to capture state power through Zihad or Islamic revolution in Afgan style. After that limited action against the militant terrorists the Government did not proceed any more.

In line with the policy of go slow, Government started behaving mysteriously in dealing with Bangla Bhai and his JMJB Cadres. Inspite of Goernment ban on JMJB and Crack-down on some of the militants, the widely publicised Bangla Bhai escaped arrest. Now, the Home Minister himself is saying that Bangla-Bhai might have left the country. When the police and the RAB of this Government have shown high efficiency in catching almost everyday the members of the underground leftists parties Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party and putting them under-so called cross-fire, how could Bangla-Bhai and his followers escape their eyes? So, no one believes the statement of the Home Minister that Bangla-Bhai is not available. This is a highly irresponsible and misleading statement.

However, with recent actions on two militant groups Government has ultimately admitted the existence of these groups in Bangladesh. Inspite of such admittance, Government refrained from taking any action against rest of the militant groups. So, the actions of the Government seems to be self-contradictory.

On the other hand, after the conclusion of the Donor Agencies meeting in Washington on 24 February, the law enforcing agencies have gradually slowed down their actions on the militants. After that event, not a single militant was arrested and the arrestees of the earlier raids have not been charge-sheeted & prosecuted. No Action has been initiated against the main stream fundamentalist political parties like Jamat with whom the militants are associated. In this connection, the statement of Mawlana Fazlul Haque Amini?one of the vocal parters of the Government of Alliance is worth mentioning. According to him, the Intelligence Agencies should conduct search in the offices of Jamat & Sibir instead of his Kaowmi Madrasas to find out the real terrorists. Such statement indicates that internal bleeding has already started within the government of Alliance on the issue of militant terrorists belonging to the main stream Jamat-e-Islami and Islamic Oakyo Jote. But the fact remains that these two fenatic Parties are active partners of the Government, then how the law enforcing Agencies dare to take actions against their militant organs? The truth is, Government will never allow any meaningful action against the militants belonging to their partners in the interest of electoral alliance. Their priority is to hang on power by any means. Therefore, the recent crack-down on two of the militant Islamic Terrorist groups are nothing but simple eye-wash in order to appease the Donor Agencies and to contain the grievances of BRAC and Grammen Bank Authorities.

Newsletter _______________________
Vol. 4. No. 4. April 13, 2005
Bangladesh Awami League Publication