December 2005 
Year 12    No.113

Neighbours


Gripped by terror: Bangladesh

Islamic terrorists wreak havoc in Bangladesh

Everyone in the town, whether a law enforcer or a lawyer, a judge or a government official, is in the grip of constant fear of fresh terror attacks. People eye each other suspiciously, spy on every stranger, apprehending a bomber striking again anytime, anywhere". So read the opening paragraph of a front-page news report in the December 3 edition of The Daily Star, a prominent English newspaper published from Bangladesh.

This might sound alarmist to outsiders unfamiliar with the ominous development of events ever since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) assumed power in alliance with fundamentalist Islamic outfits like the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI, Bangladesh) and the Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) in 2001. But for Bangladeshis this is the grim reality of their country that now seems to be firmly in the grip of Islamic extremists and terrorists.

The most disturbing part of the sordid scenario is the widespread consensus in Bangladesh that the BNP-led government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is hostage to the JEI and the IOJ, both of which have been patronising the extremists and providing them political shelter. And it is not just opposition parties; the media and the intelligentsia have repeatedly asserted that unless the BNP snaps its alliance with the JEI, the scourge of terrorism cannot be fought.

In September this year Syed Najibul Basher Maizbhandari, the international affairs secretary of the BNP, resigned from the party protesting its "failure to act" against the JEI, which had direct links with terrorist outfits (see CC, October 2005). On November 24 the BNP expelled one of its MPs, Abu Hena, from the party for openly blaming a section of the government and the party for patronising the militants. What’s more, he charged that two ministers and the Jamaat’s man in the BNP Post and Telecommunications Dept., Aminul Haque, "are doing everything for the militants". Despite Hena’s expulsion, BNP’s standing committee member and former minister Oli Ahmed and BNP whip Ashraf Hossain spoke out, directly implicating the Jamaat-e-Islami in the rise of militancy in the country.

While several religious Muslim organisations have condemned the acts of terrorism in unambiguous terms, police investigations have also exposed the role of the Ahl-e-Hadith sect (which like the Jamaat-e-Islami projects a benign image of itself in India) and several foreign-funded "Islamic NGOs" in promoting extremism in Bangladesh.

The sheer audacity with which the extremists have operated in Bangladesh in recent months, making the judiciary a special target in its proclaimed drive to ensure that Bangladesh runs according to "the laws of Allah", is truly terrifying. Fifteen people, including judges, lawyers and policemen have been killed since banned Islamist militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) intensified its terror attacks in August. On August 17, simultaneous serial blasts at 459 spots in 63 districts across the country killed two people and injured many others – in the name of establishing Islamic rule in the country. And the situation has rapidly deteriorated since then:

Ø October 3: Courtrooms in Chandpur, Laxmipur and Chittagong districts are attacked, killing four people and injuring 38, including a judge.

Ø October 18: Militants hurl a bomb at the vehicle of Judge Biplop Goswami in Sylhet, leaving him injured.

Ø November 14: In an attack, JMB extremists kill two senior assistant judges of Jhalakathi, Sohel Ahmed and Jagannath Pandey.

Ø November 29: Nine people, including two lawyers and a police constable, are killed and 78 others injured in two suicide bomb attacks on Chittagong and Gazipur court premises.

Ø November 30: In response to a writ petition, the Dhaka High Court issues notice to the government asking why its continuous failure to discharge constitutional obligations to hold impartial, adequate and effective investigations into the bomb blasts on court premises since August 17 should not be declared a failure in protecting fundamental rights. The division bench also directs the government to submit progress reports to the high court every two weeks on the investigations into the attacks on court premises.

Ø December 1: Yet another suicide bomb attack by the JMB in Gazipur kills a government employee and injures 30 people. Those injured in the reckless attack outside the high-security office of the deputy commissioner include eight lawyers, three journalists and five policemen, sending shock waves throughout the country.

Ø December 2: Police recover nine powerful bombs, five from the premises of a government office in Khulna and four in Sirajganj. Each of these bombs was capable of causing huge casualties and extensive damage to property. Meanwhile, Sylhet city mayor Badruddin Ahmed Kamran narrowly escapes a grenade while speaking at the opening ceremony of a sports tournament.

Ø December 3: Explosive experts defuse a three-kg time bomb planted under a passenger bus at a bus terminal.

Ø December 4: Rejecting the government’s appeal, the Supreme Court upholds the November 30 order of the high court directing the government to file fortnightly reports on the progress of investigations into militant activities across the country.

In the near anarchic situation that prevails in Bangladesh today, the extremists continue to issue daily threats to bomb Supreme Court judges, lawyers, bar councils, divisional commissioners, police chiefs, journalists, markets and educational institutions.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is now talking of engaging the army in a countrywide operation to curb terrorism. But with the terrorists enjoying the patronage of MPs and even ministers within the ruling alliance, Bangladesh is rapidly hurtling towards the abyss. n


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