(WEA)
On Aug. 17, more than 400 small bombs exploded almost
simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64
districts.
While three people were killed and
150 were injured, the most devastating element of this
attack is not the damage it caused, but the message it
left. That message is that Islamic militants are willing
and able to co-ordinate and perpetrate terror
nationwide.
The group that has been
blamed for the bombings, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen,
threatened to strike again unless Bangladesh introduces
Islamic law. According to Pakistan's Daily Times,
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen subsequently declared, "Everybody
is the enemy of Islam who wants to launch democracy as
an institutional form. Therefore we invite the ruling
party and also the opposition to initiate the rule of
Islam within a short time in Bangladesh." (Link
1)
The Threat to Target Christian
Leaders Five days later, on Aug. 22, Bangladesh's
leading national Bengali daily newspaper, the "Daily
Ittafaq," published on its front page the news that the
Intelligence Department had informed the government that
Islamic militants are planning to attack the largest
non-Muslim religious centers in Dhaka -- the Dhakashari
Hindu Temple, the Tejgaon Catholic Church, and the
Kamlapur Buddhist Monastery. According to the
intelligence report, militants also plan to kill local
and foreign non-Muslim leaders, missionaries, priests
and humanitarian workers. Basically anyone who is
preaching religion (especially Christianity) is to be
targeted for violence or killing for the purpose of
discrediting the government of Bangladesh in the
West.
After a meeting with intelligence agencies,
the Home Ministry requested that police step up security
around non-Muslim religious establishments and
leaders.
Under the leadership of the National
Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh, a coalition of
leaders from Christian churches, institutions and NGOs
wrote a memorandum to the Prime Minister which was
printed in Bengali and English language national
newspapers.
In "An Appeal to Her Excellency Begum
Khaleda Zia" published in the Observer on Sept. 4, the
Church leaders reiterated their desire to serve the
nation through education, health-care, relief and
rehabilitation, poverty alleviation, and the fostering
of spiritual values. They then expressed their concern
over both national security and the security of the
threatened religious minorities, noting that preachers
of Christianity have been singled out to be targeted on
account of the effect this would have on Western
governments.
The church leaders then humbly
requested that the government take every possible step
to remove the deep-rooted causes of terrorism. The
memorandum was signed by Rev. Theotonius Gomes, the
Secretary General of the Catholics Bishops' Conference
of Bangldesh; the Rt. Rev. Nibaran Das, Bishop of the
Methodist Church of Banglades; Rev. Asam Kain, Chairman
of the Bangladesh Assemblies of God; Mr. Subodh
Adhikary, General Secretary of the National Council of
Churches of Bangladesh; Rt. Rev. Michael Baroi,
Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh; Rev. Robert
Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist
Church Sangha; Mr. Leor P. Sarkar, the General Secretary
of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship; and Mr.
Dennis D. Datta, General Secretary of the National
Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh.
Local
Militants Arise With the Help of Foreign
Funds Islamic zeal erupted in Bangladesh in
October 2001 objecting to the presence of American and
allied military forces in Pakistan for the purpose of
bombing Afghanistan. The feelings of Islamic rage,
identification and solidarity were so strong that
Bangladesh's October 2001 general elections yielded a
huge swing away from the ruling secular Awami League
Party in favor of pro-Pakistan, pro-Muslim and militant
Islamist parties. This is especially tragic when we
consider how much blood was shed for Bangladesh to win
independence from Pakistan and the right to secular
government based on Bengali rather than Islamic
culture.
Since October 2001, local Islamic
militant groups have grown in number, membership and
organization. Madrassas have proliferated across the
country to the extent that there are now more than
64,000, up from 4,000 in 1986. Most have arisen in the
last decade and are without any government oversight.
Meanwhile, persecution of religious minorities has
intensified.
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies
have come to believe that not only are the militants
well established and well co-ordinated, but they are
also well funded courtesy of foreign Islamic NGOs that
channel funds from the Middle East to local militant
groups. Nearly a dozen foreign Islamic NGOs have now
been placed on a watch list.
A Sept. 7 article by
David Montero for the Christian Science Monitor gives an
excellent overview of "How extremism came to
Bangladesh". (Link 2)
Montero writes, "In the
aftermath of the [Aug. 17 bomb] attacks, Bangladesh is
confronting a realization long suspected but
consistently overlooked: Islamist militant groups have
taken firm root here, demonstrating a widespread, highly
coordinated, and well-funded network. The government,
after consistently denying the threat, recently blamed
Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) for the
attack."
Montero notes that Jama'atul Mujahedin
was banned in February after members confessed to
bombing 'un-Islamic' targets, including theatre shows
and the offices of nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs).
According to Montero, the spiritual head
of Jama'atul Mujahedin, Abdur Rahman, told the media
last year that he admired the Taliban and had traveled
to Afghanistan. "He claimed his organization had been
operating underground since 1998, with the aim of
founding an Islamic state. His network was active across
the country, he said, with 10,000 trained full-time
operatives, and 100,000 part-time activists, funded with
a payroll of more than $10,000 a month, a huge sum by
Bangladeshi standards."
Montero continues,
"Another JMB leader, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Galib, who
was arrested after the February crackdown, is alleged by
intelligence agencies to have received large funding
from the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), a
Kuwait-based organization. In 2002, the U.S. State
Department blacklisted some RIHS offices, citing their
support of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. RIHS and
Galib's organization have reportedly constructed over
1,000 mosques across Bangladesh and 10
madrassahs."
Writing from Dhaka for New Kerala
(India), Farid Ahmed states, "The Kuwait-based Revival
of the Islamic Heritage Society is on top of the list of
suspect organizations and the government is going to ask
it to close its offices in the country. The other
organizations put under close watch include the Rabita
Al Alam Al Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar
Charitable Society, Al Muntada Al Islami, Islamic Relief
Agency, Al Forkan Foundation, International Relief
Organization, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee and the
Muslim Aid Bangladesh. All these organizations are based
in different Middle East countries and have been active
in Bangladesh for years."
According to Ahmed,
intelligence has revealed that more than 100 foreigners,
who traveled from various Middle Eastern and African
countries and entered with tourist visas, have been
working in these Islamic NGOs illegally. (Link
3)
Links:
1) Banned group calls
for Islamic rule in Bangladesh Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
threatens to strike again unless the country resorts to
Islamic law. DHAKA, Aug. 24, 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-8-2005_pg4_17
2)
How extremism came to Bangladesh Foreign funding and
bitter politics may have played a role in the recent
bombings. By David Montero, Sept. 7,2005
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0907/p06s01-wosc.html
3)
Foreign NGOs funding militancy in Bangladesh:
intelligence By Farid Ahmed, Dhaka, Sept. 8, 2005
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=20898
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