Overview
Bangladesh—a secular, Muslim-majority country—has struggled with violent Islamist groups since the country fought an eight-month war for independence from West Pakistan in 1971. (Source: U.S. Department of State)
Bangladesh—previously known as East Pakistan—was linguistically and culturally distinct from West Pakistan (now Pakistan). Bangladeshi secularists at the time agitated for greater independence, while the Islamists—led by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) party—aggressively fought fellow Bangladeshis with the support of the Pakistani military. The JeI is believed to have committed serious war crimes during the war for independence in 1971, and has since continued to use militant groups to commit violence in the country and disrupt the secular government. (Sources: BBC News, U.S. Department of State)
Militants have murdered at least 40 pro-secular writers and activists since 2013.
Today, domestic Islamist extremist groups like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)—as well as pro-ISIS supporters—are believed to use domestic terror affiliates to spread propaganda online and on the streets of Bangladesh as well as recruit foreign fighters and launch domestic attacks. Since 2013, a variety of local Islamist groups are believed to be responsible for the murders of at least 40 pro-secular writers and activists, members of religious minorities, and foreigners. Among those killed in 2016 were U.S. embassy employee and LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan, secular English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, and law student Nazimuddin Samad. Among those killed in 2015 were bloggers Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman, liberal professors Mohammad Shakil Auj and Shafiul Islam, and secular books publisher Faisal Arefin Dipon. (Sources: Long War Journal, BBC News, NTVBD, SITE Intelligence, CNN, BBC News, Reuters, East Asia Forum, Guardian, Dhaka Tribune, NPR, Reuters)
Bangladesh is also host to a number of Islamist political parties and organizations, including banned groups JeI and Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT). While some previous Bangladeshi administrations have made concessions to Islamist organizations in an attempt to win their support, the current government under Sheikh Hasina Wazed has cracked down on Islamist outfits. Beginning in 2013, Hasina inaugurated a new court to arrest and prosecute members of the JeI, which was reportedly responsible for war crimes during the time of the country’s independence in 1971. Since then, the Hasina government has sentenced a number of these men to death. Since the July 2016 Dhaka attack, Bangladeshi security forces have also cracked down on Islamist militants. Police have conducted a series of raids on suspect extremist hideouts in Bangladesh, collectively killing around 50 militants. (Sources: New York Times, Combatting Terrorism Center, Indian Express, Astro Awani)
In the government’s efforts to crack down on Islamist activity, Bangladesh has increased its cooperation with India and the United States. Conversely, ties with Pakistan remain strained due to its suspected tolerance of individuals with ties to Bangladeshi extremism. For example, in December 2015, a Pakistani diplomat was asked to leave Bangladesh after she was accused of smuggling money into the country to benefit extremists. (Sources: Dawn, Indian Express)
Radicalization
Bangladesh is not a major source of foreign fighters. As of October 2015, fewer than 40 Bangladeshis were believed to have joined or attempted to join ISIS in the Middle East. Instead, Bangladeshi Islamist groups primarily recruit members to engage in local Islamist activity or domestic attacks. (Sources: New York Times, Stratfor, Dhaka Tribune)
The unifying aim of Islamist organizations in Bangladesh is to establish a state ruled by sharia (Islamic law). While Islamist organizations like HT focus on establishing Islamic law in Bangladesh under the country’s current borders, other groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS aspire to establish a broader South Asian caliphate. The idea of a South Asian caliphate itself appears to be drawn from a much debated hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) known as Ghazwa-e-Hind. According to some interpretations, Ghazwa-e-Hind envisions a unified region—including modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, India, and Bangladesh—under Islamic law. (Sources: Hudson Institute, Indian Defense Review, MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor)
In recent years, the number of suspected Islamist attacks has increased. Attacks have also apparently become more indiscriminate, with assailants targeting not only individuals accused of speaking out against Islam, but also religious minorities and foreigners. Transnational militant groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda have also reportedly linked up with local groups—Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), respectively—to carry out attacks. (Sources: Hudson Institute, CNN)
In a January 2017 essay, an academic at Bangladesh’s North South University attributed the country’s growing ranks of young extremists to three factors: a demographic youth bulge, a changing social landscape characterized by rapid urbanization and digitization, and a lack of democracy. Defeating extremism in Bangladesh, he said, will require exposing youths to means of political expression, economic opportunity, and launching “a massive online campaign to deter extremist propaganda.” Other analysts agree that defeating extremism in Bangladesh depends, in part, on “equipping credible messengers to challenge extremist narratives online.” (Source: Conversation, Religion and Geopolitics Online)
Terrorist Organizations
ISIS and al-Qaeda both claim a presence in Bangladesh, and are believed to be cooperating with local terror groups in order to recruit and carry out domestic attacks. Local terror groups operating in Bangladesh include the ISIS-affiliated JMB, a Bangladeshi terror group founded in 1998, as well as the al-Qaeda affiliated Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), formed in 2007.
ISIS
ISIS announced its presence in Bangladesh in November 2015.
ISIS formally announced its presence in Bangladesh in the November 2015 issue of Dabiq, its online English-language magazine. The issue included an interview with Sheikh Abu al-Hanif, purportedly the head of ISIS operations in Bangladesh. (Source: Dabiq)
In the article, “The Revival of Jihad in Bengal,” Hanif lauded Bangladesh’s JMB terror group for its ability to resist “the effect of both European colonization and Hindu cultural invasion.” The article also referenced the murder of an Italian aid worker and a Japanese citizen in September and October 2015, respectively, calling the murders “blessed back-to-back attacks” which “caused havoc among the citizens of the crusader nations and their allies” and “forced their diplomats, tourists, and expats to… live in a constant state of fear.” (Sources: Dabiq, New York Times, Al Jazeera)
Although ISIS formally introduced its Bangladeshi operation in November of 2015, the group had been working to lure Bangladeshi citizens to its cause since 2014. In August of 2014, ISIS released a Bengali-language video showing various individuals pledging their support for the so-called caliphate. The following month, 24-year-old British citizen Samiun Rahman was arrested in the capital city of Dhaka, one of multiple British-born individuals reportedly recruiting for ISIS in Bangladesh. In 2015, another nine individuals were arrested in Bangladesh and accused of planning the overthrow of the government in order to establish a caliphate. (Sources: Dhaka Tribune, Telegraph)
In 2014, authorities arrested Hifzur Rahman, a student member of the ISIS-affiliated JMB. Though ISIS had not formally announced its Bangladeshi presence in 2014, Rahman said he was affiliated with ISIS and was attempting to recruit foreign fighters across the country on behalf of the global terror group, particularly from the northern Bangladeshi district of Sylhet. Rahman also reportedly claimed that ISIS was recruiting online via a Facebook page titled “ISIS Bangladesh.” (Source: Jamestown Foundation)
Despite the arrests of individuals who were—according to media reports—affiliated with ISIS, the government has repeatedly denied that ISIS maintains a formal presence in the country. When questioned by the media after the restaurant hostage crisis on July 2, 2016, Bangladesh’s Information Minister, Hasanul Haq Inu, blamed local actors, stating, “The answer is very simple, the producer is the BNP [Bangladesh National Party]. The Director is J[e]I. The small actors on the ground are ABT, JMB, and other militant Islamist networks.” (Sources: Telegraph, Dhaka Tribune)
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideenn Bangladesh
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is a violent Islamist group affiliated with ISIS. Founded by Abdur Rahman in 1998, the group seeks to establish a Bangladeshi state governed by Islamic law. The group was formally banned in 2005, and its leader hanged in 2007 after being found guilty for the murder of two judges in Dhaka. The Bangladeshi government has accordingly cracked down on the group, reportedly arresting and even killing dozens of its members, including its former leader, Tamim Chowdhury. Despite the ban and crackdown, JMB is believed to remain active within Bangladesh and is known to have coordinated with ISIS. (Sources: CNN, Asia News, Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, West Point Combating Terrorism Center, Dhaka Tribune, Independent)
Before the JMB linked up with ISIS, one of the group’s most notorious acts of terror occurred on August 17, 2005, when JMB members detonated 459 bombs in 63 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts, killing two people and wounding more than 100 others. (Sources: National Interest, Deutsche Welle)
Investigations immediately after the August 2005 JMB attack resulted in more than 700 arrests of JMB members or members of its affiliate, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). JMB leaders Siddique ul-Islam and Shaykh Abdur Rahman were held responsible for organizing the attacks. Both were captured in March 2006 and executed on March 30, 2007. After further investigations, law enforcement officials stated that the JMB had more than 8,000 members or sympathizers in Bangladesh, including a suicide squad of 2,000 individuals. (Source: Combatting Terrorism Center)
Since the 2005 attack, JMB members have continued to be implicated in domestic terror attacks. In 2007, another six JMB members were executed on charges of killing two Bangladeshi judges. JMB also took credit for the October 2015 murder of a Japanese citizen. Arrests of JMB members are ongoing. In June 2016, three JMB members were arrested as part of a national raid on Islamist militants. On February 28, 2017, five JMB militants were sentenced to death for the October 2015 murder. (Source: Fox News, Combatting Terrorism Center, National Interest, Deutsche Welle, PTI)
JMB’s reported connections to the JeI political party raises further concern. On November 26, 2015, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam stated, “At least one-fourth of banned militant outfit JMB members are former Jamaat-e-Islami members and are now involved in acts of destruction across the country.” Islam went on to say that “new members are also reportedly financing JMB’s terror and criminal acts” and that “JMB members are using the money to buy motorcycles, explosives and ammunition to commit crimes.” (Source: Eurasia Review)
According to reports, JMB members have also coordinated with the Pakistani-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Reports indicate that JMB members have moved from Bangladesh into Pakistan in order to receive LeT training. Bangladeshis also have a history of supporting al-Qaeda, a history which dates back to 1998, when the leader of Bangladesh’s Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) included his signature in Osama Bin Laden’s second anti-West fatwa. On December 2, 2016, Bangladesh’s highest court upheld the death sentence given to HuJI leader Abdul Hannan and two associates for a 2004 attack on the British ambassador that left three people dead. Hannan is believed to have left Bangladesh in the 1980s to study at a madrassa in Pakistan and later to have fought in the Afghan war. He has been linked to at least two other deadly attacks in Bangladesh since 2001. (Sources: Diplomat, Stratfor, Christian Science Monitor, Stanford University, Jamestown Foundation, Daily Mail)
Following the 2016 attack on a Dhaka café, security and law enforcement officials have started to refer to a new group called “neo-Jamaat-ul Mujahideen” (Neo-JMB). Neo-JMB is a JMB splinter group that also calls itself the Islamic State-Bangladesh, and has previously been accused of transporting fighters into Iraq and Syria. JMB’s emir Salahuddin Ahmed, does not recognize the group. Neo-JMB was thought to be founded by Tamim Chowdhury, a Canadian-Bangladeshi accused of being the primary coordinator between ISIS and Bangladeshi jihadist groups. Each faction of Neo-JMB is purportedly led by a regional commander who follows orders from the central leadership. According to International Crisis Group, Neo-JMB has mostly dismantled following the death of Chowdhury in August 2016. However, smaller cells continue to carry out a small number of operations throughout the country. (Sources: International Crisis Group, Jamestown Foundation)
It is reported that Saifullah Ozaki, a Bangladeshi professor who previously taught in Kyoto, was the subsequent leader of Neo-JMB. Ozaki is alleged to have played a key role in the online recruitment of Bangladeshis to ISIS and facilitating their transportation to fight in Syria. Additionally, it is reported Ozaki recruited many of the assailants of the 2016 Dhaka café attack. According to Bangladesh Intelligence officials in November 2019, Ozaki is currently being held in jail in Iraqi Kurdistan after surrendering during a military operation against ISIS in Syria in early2019. (Sources: International Crisis Group, Kyodo News)
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is al-Qaeda’s fifth official branch. The group was founded in September 2014 at the behest of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who appointed Asim Omar as emir (commander or prince) of the new affiliate. Like its parent group, AQIS seeks to wage jihad in order to establish governance by Islamic law. The affiliate allegedly operates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Burma, Bangladesh, and Kashmir. Zawahiri stated that AQIS seeks to “rescue” the subcontinent’s Muslim population from “injustice, oppression, persecution, and suffering.” In Bangladesh, AQIS reportedly operates with local terror group ABT. (Sources: New York Times, Long War Journal, CNN)
After the killing of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda’s new chief al-Zawahri started the reorganization of al Qaeda, with its main focus on South Asia.
AQIS was formed after a two-year effort to consolidate jihadist factions on the Indian subcontinent, according to Zawahiri, who announced the affiliate’s creation in a video dated September 3, 2014. Included in the new group’s ranks are Taliban fighters loyal to both Zawahiri and the leadership of the Taliban in Afghanistan. (Sources: Long War Journal, Independent, Reuters)
Analysts generally believe that Zawahiri created AQIS in order to steal the limelight from an expanding ISIS and therefore promote al-Qaeda’s brand. The Diplomat’s Jordan Olmstead asserts that “AQIS isn’t about India—it’s about preserving al-Qaeda’s safe havens in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” especially amid rivalries with ISIS and the Pakistani army for influence and control over the Af-Pak region. Flashpoint Global Partners senior analyst Laith Alkhouri called the group’s formation “a serious counternarrative to the ISIS expansion.” (Sources: Diplomat, New York Times)
However, an unnamed jihadist close to AQIS told Reuters, “After the killing of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda’s new chief al-Zawahri started the reorganization of al Qaeda, with its main focus on South Asia.” Sources close to AQIS emir Asim Omar told Reuters that Omar has eyed the Indian subcontinent for many years, and has released videos propagandizing to Kashmiri Muslims in a hope to recruit them to fight the secular governments. (Source: Reuters)
AQIS has claimed responsibility for the murders of a number of secular activists. For example, in May 2015, the group murdered atheist bloggers Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman in Bangladesh and liberal professors Mohammad Shakil Auj and Shafiul Islam in Pakistan. In October 2015, AQIS’s Bangladeshi branch, known as Ansar al Islam, claimed responsibility for the killing of Faisal Arefin Dipon, a Bangladeshi publisher of secular books. Another publisher, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, was also targeted but not killed. In April 2016, Ansar al Islam claimed responsibility for the murders of secular campaigner Nazimuddin Samad, and the editors of an LGBT magazine, Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar. In March 2017, the Bangladeshi government banned Ansar al Islam. The Public Security Division of the Home Ministry stated, “The activities of Ansar al-Islam threaten peace and stability in Bangladesh. All activities of this group stand banned because they constitute a threat to public order.” (Sources: Long War Journal, BBC News, NTVBD, SITE Intelligence, CNN, bdnews24.com)
On June 10, 2020, reports surfaced that AQIS has intensified its propaganda and recruitment materials online to influence Bangladeshi nationals to launch lone wolf attacks against the Indian government, its security agencies, Hindu nationalist leaders, and a “certain category of persons.” According to reports, AQIS recruited a team of Bangladeshi Islamic clerics and scholars to create persuasive online recruiting content. The online material allegedly contains detailed strategies to plan and execute attacks in the name of the global jihad. (Source: Times Now News)
Ansarullah Bangla Team
Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) was formed in 2007, and is currently affiliated with al-Qaeda’s local affiliate, AQIS. The group has been banned since 2015, but has nonetheless claimed responsibility for at least seven murders of liberal writers, academics, and bloggers. Three of the claimed victims—Avijit Roy, Anant Bijoy Das, and Washiqur Rahman—reportedly became ABT targets due to their criticism of fundamentalist Islam. (Sources: Global Security, Jamestown Foundation, CNN)
ABT spreads pro-ISIS and pro-al-Qaeda material both in person and online. According to reports, the group has previously uploaded Bengali-language versions of ISIS’s Dabiq magazine and al-Qaeda’s Inspire. Videos reportedly uploaded by ABT have included explicit references to potential targets, including Bangladesh’s parliament building. The group has also reportedly published videos with bomb-making instructions. (Sources: Global Security, Jamestown Foundation)
Since its ban in 2015, a number of ABT members have been arrested on murder-related charges. ABT cleric Jasimuddin Rahmani was one of seven defendants found guilty in December 2015 of the murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. Accused ABT members have also been arrested for links to the murder of liberal blogger Niloy Neel. At least one ABT member was reportedly arrested on undisclosed charges after carrying out pro-ISIS recruitment in the country. On June 16, 2016, police arrested Islamist militant Suman Hossain Patowari who, they said, admitted to participating in a hacking attack on publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and two associates in October 2015. Police said that Patowari belonged to ABT and that Ansar al-Islam and ABT “are the same people” but that neither group has proven links to al-Qaeda. (Sources: CNN, Dhaka Tribune, Wall Street Journal, East Asia Forum, Daily Mail)
On December 31, 2015, Bangladeshi authorities found Rahmani guilty of inspiring Haider’s murder. He was sentenced to five years in prison. On December 11, 2017, Bangladeshi immigrant Akayed Ullah allegedly attempted to set off a suicide bomb in the New York City subway system. The bomb failed to detonate properly and police arrested Ullah. According to authorities and Ullah’s family, Ullah was radicalized in part by listening to Rahmani’s sermons and reading his writings. (Sources: Daily Star, New York Times)
Islamist Parties and Organizations
Bangladesh is home to a number of banned Islamist organizations, including HT and the JeI. The country has also been home to a coalition of Islamist organizations known as Hefazat-e-Islam.
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) is a banned Islamist party that has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks and war crimes in Bangladesh. The party itself predates the country’s independence. The JeI originated as a political movement in South Asia at a time when much of the region was a British colony. Seeking to protect Muslims from discrimination, Muslim nationalists advocated for a separate nation for Muslims under Islamic law. As a result, when Hindu-majority India gained independence in August 1947, East and West Pakistan also gained independence, as one non-contiguous, Muslim-majority country. During the subsequent two decades, East Pakistan agitated for independence due to issues born from cultural and linguistic differences between East and West Pakistan. An eight-month war ensued between the two states in 1971, resulting in East Pakistan’s independence and its name-change to Bangladesh. West Pakistan became what we now know as Pakistan. (Source: Indian Express)
The war that preceded Bangladesh’s independence was fraught with violence. With the purported help of the Pakistani military, members of the JeI were accused of raping and murdering hundreds of people in an effort to prevent the state from becoming independent. (Source: Indian Express)
Following the war, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (father of current Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina) established the first independent government, as well as the secular Awami League political party and banned the use of religion in politics. The JeI was consequently no longer recognized as a legal political party. In 1979, however, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came into power and lifted the ban, reintroducing the JeI into Bangladeshi politics. (Source: Indian Express)
Since its reinstatement in 1979, the JeI has remained active as a political party, often aligning itself with the BNP. In that time, members known to be associated with the JeI have held various offices in government, including cabinet positions. (Sources: Diplomat, Indian Express)
In 1996 and again in 2008, the secular Awami League came into power, led by Sheikh Hasina. Following her return to power in 2008, Hasina promised prosecutions against those who had committed war crimes in 1971, including JeI leadership. In 2009, Hasina’s government accordingly established the International War Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh. The government has since carried out numerous trials of JeI members, convicting many and sentencing several to death. (Sources: BBC News, Diplomat, Indian Express, Eurasia Review)
With the uptick in violent Islamist attacks since 2013, and the JeI’s reported connections to militant groups, the JeI has continued to be excluded from political affairs. In April 2016, the country’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shahriar Alam, advocated for a permanent ban on the group, calling the JeI is a “full-terrorist organisation” and saying that as such, the group should not “be allowed to conduct normal political activities in the country.” The group is linked to terrorist attacks by the banned JMB terror group, affiliated with ISIS. (Sources: Hindu, Eurasia Review)
The JeI’s student wing—the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS)—has also been implicated for links to terrorist violence. From 2013 to 2014, the Bangladeshi government arrested nearly 6,000 JeI members and students from ICS. Despite these arrests, the ICS is not banned in Bangladesh. (Sources: News Bangladesh, South Asian Terrorism Portal, Diplomat, Indian Express, Eurasia Review, India Times)
Hefazat-e-Islam
Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) is a coalition of about a dozen Islamist groups that formed in 2010 to protest against secularism and women’s rights. (Source: BBC News)
Led by elderly cleric Shah Ahmad Shafi, the group is perhaps best known for its 2013 Dhaka demonstration, in which HeI gathered approximately 500,000 people in support of its list of demands, including the death penalty for so-called blasphemers and the demand that certain Muslim minority groups in Bangladesh—like the Ahmadis—be declared non-Muslim. (Source: BBC News)
As part of the demonstration, HeI also denounced “foreign cultural influence” in the country, which the group blames for the purportedly undesirable “free-mixing of men and women.” Among the groups that supported HeI was the banned JeI party, which asserted that “the country’s Islam-loving people have become united against the anti-Islamic government and its patronized atheist people.” (Sources: BBC News, Guardian, Jamaat-e-Islami)
HeI’s leader has a reportedly broad influence in Bangladesh, heading the Bangladeshi Qaumi Madrassah Education Board, which runs more than 25,000 madrassas nationwide. According to reports, many of the madrassas under Shafi’s purview teach a fundamentalist and Islamist interpretation of Islam, and advocate for Islamic law in Bangladesh. (Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera)
Despite being marginalized by the Hasina administration, HeI is believed to have the support of some government-affiliated agencies. According to reports, the Bangladesh Railway offered HeI 40 acres of land in Chittagong in 2015. (Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, Hindu BusinessLine)
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) is a global Islamist movement that purports to be non-violent, but which is perceived by some analysts as a “conveyer belt” for Islamist violence. In Bangladesh, the group recruits online and in person, handing out leaflets and organizing events at local universities in an effort to attract new members. (Source: Hudson Institute)
HT was banned in Bangladesh in 2009.
HT was banned in Bangladesh in 2009. Since then, the group has continued to operate, with local law enforcement arresting approximately 600 HT members since the group’s ban in 2009. On September 4, 2015, Bangladeshi law enforcement monitored an online HT conference, which was virtually attended by as many as 10,000 men and women. (Sources: Guardian, Dhaka Tribune)
Since its ban in 2009, HT has also been implicated in several violent attacks. Along with other Islamist groups, HT was implicated in connection to the failed 2011 coup attempt led by Major Syed Md Ziaul Haque. In another HT-related incident following the 2009 ban, suspected HT member Farabi Shafiur Rahman was believed to be behind the March 2015 hacking murder of secular blogger Avijit Roy. (Sources: Hindu BusinessLine, Hudson Institute, Dhaka Tribune, Telegraph India, Guardian)
No comments:
Post a Comment