Delhi and Dhaka have resolved under an agreement signed July 28 to step up anti-terror cooperation and to make the extradition treaty more effective.
For extradition of a suspected criminal police warrant will henceforth be enough and there will be no requirement of enclosing evidence. The two sides will also enhance cooperation between the security and investigative agencies of the two countries through training, capacity building, and exchange of information.
The accord addresses the concerns that arise from the recent Islamist attacks in Bangladesh.
The ISIS has claimed credit for the deadly terror attack on a Dhaka café but the strike appears to have the imprint of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, JMB, (Assembly of Jihadists) And this is cause for concern to India since the JMB is believed to have spread its net to West Bengal and Assam as well. It also has linkages with the ISIS, which is making a determined to penetrate into India.
Like its many Islamist counterparts in Pakistan, JMB stands for ushering in the rule of Sharia and enjoys the patronage of ISI. Last year, two Pak diplomats based in Dhaka had to return home under a cloud. The visa attaché (at Pakistan High Commission), Mazhar Khan, was caught red-handed in April at a meeting with a JMB operative, who said, they were involved in pushing large consignments of fake currency into India. Eight months later, in December, Second Secretary, Farina Arshad, was asked to leave Dhaka after a JMB operative admitted to having received Taka 30,000 from her.
Founded in 1998, JMB has seen a phenomenal growth in its reach and influence during the rule of Khaleda Zia’s BNP in coalition with religious parties particularly Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeI). Though it made its presence felt by 2001 itself, it was the serial bombing, the JMB had staged in August 2005 that had shaken the nation as never before. As many as 500 bombs went off in a short span of 30 minutes in 63 of the 64 districts. These blasts forced the Khaleda Zia government to crack the whip on the JMB.
A corollary to the development was that the JMB located a hideout in West Bengal, declaring it as its 65th unit. Since then, JMB has been active in Murshidabad, Malda and Nadia districts of West Bengal and parts of Muslim-majority belt of Assam, which are close to its strongholds in northern and north-western Bangladesh. Police and intelligence sources estimate that upto 50 JMB modules are operating in India, Kashmir including. The bomb blasts at Chennai and Patna in May 2014 carried JMB’s imprint. And in October 2014, Police found that JMB was making bombs and grenades in Burdwan for target practice in Bangladesh.
Many experts aver that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh is a “proxy” established by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh party to ‘push the center of gravity of the political debate toward radical Islamism’ and make Jamaat-e-Islami appear more centrist. Many members of Jāgrātā Muslim Jānātā Bānglādesh, JMJB, (Awakened Muslim Masses of Bangladesh), which is active in North-western Bangladesh, and JMB are found to be cadres of the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami. JMJB is responsible for a series of suicide bombings in Bangladesh.
Writing under the heading, “The Rising Tide of Islamism in Bangladesh” for the Hudson Institute, Maneeza Hossain, a Washington-based Bangladeshi expert, said: JMB is similar to other militant Islamist groups around the world.
“In recent years, Islamist political parties and terrorism have emerged as increasingly visible and destabilizing forces in the country. Their rise has been facilitated by the combination of several factors, including the increased infiltration of foreign-funded Salafist organizations, as well as the impact of returning of Bangladeshi migrant workers who have been imbued with Salafist ideas during their stays in the Middle East. Even more worrisome is that the Bangladeshi government has only just begun to face these grave realities. In fact, it is not clear whether any response from the government, which continues to be plagued by political impotence and entrenched corruption, will be effective in dealing with the threats posed by Islamism and radical Islam. A recent analysis in Jane’s Intelligence Review has described Bangladesh as ‘on the brink of being a failed state,’ and warned of its vulnerability to ‘al-Qaeda and its ever-expanding network of Islamic extremist organizations.’….the rising tide of Islamism in long tranquil Bangladesh requires a fresh look. Should Bangladesh become a safe-haven for radical Islam, the impact upon the global war on terrorism in the region and elsewhere would be truly severe”, she wrote in February 2006.
Maneeza Hossain went on to say: “For reasons both understandable and also regrettable, U.S. policymakers dealing with South Asia have focused their attention almost exclusively on the problems of Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan and political instability in Pakistan. But the rising tide of Islamism in long tranquil Bangladesh requires a fresh look. Should Bangladesh become a safe-haven for radical Islam, the impact upon the global war on terrorism in the region and elsewhere would be truly severe”.
Prophetic words! Well, you cannot deny that Maneeza has proved right by the turn of events.
JMB collaborates with militant Islamist groups active in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even beyond. Its tag line: Jihad from Bangladesh to Baghdad. Its creed: anti-India, and pro-Salafist ideology. Its commitment: Sharia based rule in Bangladesh.
Spelling out its agenda beyond an iota of doubt, JMB pamphlet, “Bangladesh Islami Ain Bostobaiyner Ahobban (Bangladesh: A Call for Implementation of Islamic Law)”, says:
“In a Muslim country there can be no laws other than the laws of Allah . . . The Quran or hadith do not recognize any democratic or socialist system that is enacted by infidels and non-believers . . . [We] reject the constitution that conflicts with Allah’s laws and call upon all to abandon the so-called election process and run the affairs of state according to the laws of Allah and the traditions of the Prophet”.
JMB is associated with the Indian Mujahideen, Al Jihad, Al Ummah and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to carry forward ISI-decreed missions that range from fake currency transfers to suicide bomb attacks in India.
It has networked with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihad-al Islami (HuJI) in Pakistan and with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It is working closely with the refugee camp based Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) for ops in Myanmar.
While Bangladesh-based terror groups acting against India that too at the behest of ISI is not new – the phenomenon dates back to the days when today’s Bangladesh was East Pakistan, the likes of JMB targeting both countries from the Indian soil is certainly a development that is bound to have far reaching consequences.
Hitherto, North-east India based insurgent groups are known to operate from hide outs in Bangladesh’s Chittagong hill tracts. The situation calls for stepped up cooperation between India and Bangladesh for effective border management on the one hand, and focused action by the police of West Bengal and Assam on the other hand. More so since the Hasina government has been walking the extra mile in chocking ULFA and other north-east India insurgent groups.
– malladi rama rao