By Bhaskar Roy
While the World Bank raised the status of
Bangladesh to a lower middle – income country and World Bank President,Jim Yong
Kim lauded Bangladesh’s role in empowering women,terming the country a model in
women’s progress,rising terrorism has cast a shadow on the nation
.In the last six years,since the Awami League– led
progressive and secular coalition government under Prime Minister Sk.Hasina
came to power,the GDP grew over six per cent despite global economic slowdown,
exports increased and foreign exchange reserves went up seven times.This is no
mean achievement for a country which was described as a “basket–case” by Henry
Kissinger.No efforts were spared after liberation, by a section of the people,
(with foreign assistance), to convert the liberal country into a right wing
Islamic nation run by Sharia law.It may be kept in view that through Saudi
funding to spread the extreme Islamic ideology of Wahabism, madrassas sprouted
all over the country and over 250,000 mosques were built.
The ethos of Bangladesh was split between the
citizens and political parties,between those who rejected Pakistani culture and
Islamism and won freedom for the nation in 1971,and those who clung on to
the character ofPakistan.
President Zia- ur- Rehman, a highly decorated
freedom fighter revealed another side of his character.From a major in the
Pakistani army he rose to become chief of army staff of Bangladesh through
dubious means including assassinations and betrayals, becoming president of the
country through a coup. Shunned by all political parties, he floated his own
party, the BNP, in 1978 ;rehabilitated the banned
Jamaat-e-Islami,but was eventually assassinated in1981.
The Jamaat which was anti-liberation and staunchly
pro-Pakistan was involved in the rape and killing of pro-liberation
citizens.Many of Jamaat’s top leaders are being tried for genocide and crimes
against humanity,being sentenced to life-imprisonment or death in open trials
by a special court.
In the interim, between 1978 and 2006, the BNP and
Jamaat’s Islamic conservatism and politically supported
terrorism took roots.Especially during the BNP-Jamaat government,many terrorist
organizations such as the Jamatul Mujahidin Bangladesh(JMB), HUJI and others
were used for crimes.The political patrons of terrorism remain
strong,well-funded and active.
When she returned to power as prime minister
in 2009, Sk. Hasina asserted that her prime aim was to
eradicate terrorism from Bangladesh and counter terrorism
elsewhere.Her party won with a sweeping majority,signifying the deep
disillusionment and disgust that voters felt about the previous
government. First time voters resoundingly rejected terrorism, political
assassinations,high handedness and corruption.They wanted jobs, development and
progress – something that Sk. Hasina’s government has striven to give and the
global community and institutions have recognized the same.
Sk. Hasina,a victim of terrorism herself and
survivor of an assassination attempt in 2004,initially succeeded in her counter
terrorism agenda.But it is apparent that she is being challenged severely.The
JMB has not only reared its head in Bangladesh but has infiltrated into
India across the porous border.
In the meanwhile, several other terrorist
organizations have taken birth.The Ansarullah Bangladesh Team(ABT),which claims
affiliation to the Al Qaeda,killed four secular bloggers in separate incidents
earlier this year. Al Qaeda chief, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, gave a call last year
for the establishment of his organization in Bangladesh.
The recent killing of two foreigners,Italian NGO
worker Cesare Tavella (Dhaka,Sept.28) and Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi
(Rangpur,Oct.3) has created a new concern. An American for-profit
enterprise,SITE reported that the Islamic State (IS) had claimed
responsibility for the killings.The killings led to the UK, US and Australia
issuing advisories to their citizens in Bangladesh to be alert.
The above two incidents had immediate effect on
Bangladesh’s economy.Fewer foreign businessmen are seen in Dhaka. Some foreign
purchasers of garments have either cancelled or delayed their visits.The
garment industry, which is the biggest foreign exchange earner is beginning to
feel threatened.
It is still being questioned whether the IS has
really entered Bangladesh. According to a report, Indian intelligence
agencies are not convinced that the IS was
involved in the Tavella and Hoshi killings.The
argument is based on the premise that these were not signature IS
killings.Tavella and Hoshi were shot by three men on a
motorcycle, whereas the IS uses terrifying methods like
beheading, burning and drowning.
This differentiation or
identification appears a little too simplistic.
The IS has entered Afghanistan and is
fighting the Taliban. There has not yet been
any dramatic IS signature execution of
prisoners. Their method of killing depends upon the
geography, social conditions and psyche of the killers.
As the IS expands beyond its Iraq
and Syrian stronghold, where it claims to have established
a caliphate ,it will have to depend on its recruits.
Enticed by IS propaganda over the
internet, several Bangladeshis have joined the IS, travelling
to Syria via Turkey. An extended expatriate family from UK crossed over to IS
earlier this year. Similarly, around 15 Indians joined the IS but some
of them returned after experiencing horrifying
conditions.
The IS, with an ideology far retrograde to Wahabism
does not accept Wahabism because the latter embraces a
king.They are unlikely to accommodate the ideology of Bangladeshi
terrorists or of the Jamaat. The Jamaat accepts a woman prime minister as
a political strategy, but once it wins,if ever,it will impose its ideology
which has no place for women.
Police in Dhaka arrested two IS recruiters in May
this year. One of them,Aminul Islam, was a computer science graduate and the
other, Sakib bin Kamal, was a teacher in an English medium school in
Dhaka. Both were in their thirties and were involved with the JMB.Over a
period from September 2014, police have arrested around 20 suspected IS
members. Most importantly, JMB cadres are shifting towards the IS. Saturated
with the ideology of terrorism, it is not surprising that cadres from JMB and
other such organizations are ideal for recruitment by the IS.
Interestingly,the Jamaat elders have never
condemned the IS and its entry or potential entry into Bangladesh.While
the Jamaat has sharply criticized the government for the rise in
terrorist incidents, they have to explain how two of their leaders, former
lawmakers Mia Golam Parawar and Mojibur Rahman were arrested from a house
in Dhaka with 20 home-made bombs.
Parawar is an assistant general secretary of
Jamaat, while Rahman is an acting Naeb-e-Amir of the party(bdnews24.com dated 7
Sept. 2015).Crying conspiracy will not help.
At the same time, the government must take much
stronger steps to arrest culprits and bring them to justice.Several
international observers are of the view that the government does not want to
alienate the conservative Muslim voter. This policy will not help.It could
encourage deviationists who may think they have found a door open to
them.
Obviously, the opposition feels that if the
government’s development plan collapses and progress stalls,voters will
turn to them.Hence they aid and abet these activities, not realizing that if
the terrorists succeed, they will also be swept away.
The IS is a huge international concern.The
world, including Bangladesh’s friend China,will not allow an IS
supremacy in Bangladesh. Strong action by the government and international
assistance to Bangladesh in this regard is an urgent necessity. The IS may not
come to Bangladesh, but lone wolf attacks are very likely to proliferate.Apart
from strong law and order initiatives, the government and the clergy need to
think out of the box using the progressive media and the internet to explain to
the people that the IS has no connection to Islam and is a noxious organization.
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