One Point Movement Failed: Opposition opts for militancy?

Habibullah Mizan:

Terror organizations and the extremist forces, which have carried out terror attack at Holey Artisan in the country, are now active after the failure of one-point movement by the main opposition parties.

They are allegedly reorganizing their militants to destabilize the country, the counter terrorism and security experts made these remarks after the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested 13 people, including four women in a raid on a suspected militant hideout in a remote hilly area under Kulaura Police Station of Moulvibazar on Saturday morning. 

 Talking to Bangladesh Post on Saturday following the busting of a new Islamist terror outfit in a remote area in Moulvibazar, two eminent security experts opined that law enforcing agencies should eliminate these militant outfits with an iron hand to save the flourishing democracy in the country.

Abdur Rashid, a retired Major General of Bangladesh Army who leads Institute of Conflict, Law & Development Studies and performs as security and strategic analyst said, if we recall the history of the birth of militancy in Bangladesh, we shall see that militancy was born with a clear motive either to serve any specific political agenda or to serve any geopolitical purpose.”

Militant activities depend on two things: one is that militant outfits in Bangladesh want to influence the domestic politics through their terrorist ideologies, and another is that some political parties finance the militant groups, the former defense personnel continued.

In this case, there is a big chance that those who want to halt the upcoming general election, those who plan to destroy the current peaceful political environment, might have instigated the new terrorist group, the veteran security expert further said.

These vested quarters are giving political safeguard, and financial assistance to the militant groups, he stated.

Gen Rashid said, we cannot surely tell that political backup is not the reason for the latest attempt of emerging militants.

Talking to Bangladesh Post, another renowned security analyst Maj Gen (retd) AK Mohammad Ali Sikder said the anti-liberation forces who came to power after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, wanted to bring the country to the extremist, radical and communal path. And the militant groups also want to take back Bangladesh to such  a worse destination.

 The final target of the Bangabandhu killers and the militant groups are exactly the same, he said, adding that  these two sides work on different platforms, in different names and in different ways. Some are working as extremist political organizations , some work in the guise of nationalist political parties and some work as militant organizations directly. 

It is not impossible to suspect that the vested groups are patronizing militant groups to foil the upcoming general election. If these militant groups can carry out terrorist attacks on a massive scale , the government will definitely be embarrassed. So those who are trying to halt the next parliamentary polls, want to destroy democracy, and might again instigate   the activities of the new militant group, he opined.

CTTC arrested 13 people during its special anti-terror operation  on a suspected militant hideout in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar.

There were three children with them as well, CTTC chief Md Asaduzzaman said after the end of the operation called “Operation Hillside.”

The arrested include  Shariful Islam, 40, Hafiz Ullah, 25, Khairul Islam, 22, Meghna, 17, Meghna’s 12-month-old daughter Abida, Shapla Begum, 22, her 18-month-old daughter Jubeda and six-year-old son Huzaifa, Maisha Islam, 20, Sanzida Khatun, 18, Amina Begum, 40, and Habiba Binte Shafiqul, 20.

He also said “Jihadi books” and some cash along with explosives were recovered from the hideout during the operation.

CTTC personnel  recovered 2.5kg of explosives, 50 detonators, training manuals, commando boots and other training equipment, knives and other sharp weapons including rams, Tk3.61 lakh in cash and gold ornaments from the hideout, according to Moulvibazar police.

The arrested  are members of an organization named “Imam Mahmud's Kafela.”

Local police cordoned off the house at 8pm on Friday on suspicion of it being a militant hideout.

Later, after the arrival of the CTTC, the operation started at 7am on Saturday. 

The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the DMP also joined the CTTC team in its operation.

Md Asaduzzaman said: "We initially came to know that they were living on 50 decimal of the land, which they had bought, on a hill in Kulaura to build a militant hideout there. We had information that many others were at this hideout. We will be able to bring everyone under the law soon.”