Blacklisted !
The government has blacklisted 12 Islamic organisations in the country, including Hizbut Tahrir. Why have they been targeted? Will a ban follow?
Since heading the very beginning the incumbent government has been very vocal about the militants. The ministers and state ministers have iterated and reiterated the government's vow to go tough with the militants. In her very first press conference the Home Minister Sahara Khatun thundered that the roots of militancy will be found out and eliminated. Following the tragic and ruthless mass murder of army officials at BDR Headquarters on 25 February, The Commerce Minister said JMB had been involved in the mayhem. He however chose not to make the same observations later on. State Minister for Home said the militants may launch attack on the garment factories. Law Minister has alleged that militants are trained at the Quami Madrasas. There has been criticism from different quarters for what they described as the government's over cautiousness about militant activities. True, some of the militants have been caught here and there, but there has been no attack by them in the last four months since this government came to power. The business community has suggested the government not to talk about militants in a way that might send a wrong signal to the international communities. They feared that it might deter the foreign buyers from Bangladesh garment markets and might even prompt them to cancel the orders that had been already made. The government however looks unfazed by these worries. The party in power and a section of media are attaching particular emphasis to what they termed as rising militancy in Bangladesh. State Minister for Home Sohel Taj said on a televised interview on 24 April that the government would not take any chances with the militants. He also said that 12 militant organizations were being black listed. the groups are Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Jagrata Muslim Janata, Shahadt-e- Al Hiqma, Hizbut Tauhid, Islami Samaj, Ulema Anjuman Al Baiyinaat, Hizbut Tahrir, Islamic Democratic party, Tauhid trust, Tamira Ud Deen and Allah'r Dal. There has been no official declaration as yet. A cabinet meeting in February ordered to file a report on the groups or parties who are allegedly involved in militant activities. A report suggesting 12 parties as militants was submitted to the cabinet in March, but the cabinet members thought the report was not good enough. Order was then passed for a more detail and substantive report. Meanwhile the rumor mill is working in full swing. What awaits for these 12 parties? Probe has investigated about the activities of these groups and presents excerpts here.
Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
The theoretical leader of Bangladesh Ahle Hadith Andolone Dr Asadullah Al Galib was the Amir of Jamatul Mujahideen (JM). The JM network was spread over a large swath of area covering Satkhira, Gazipur, Dhaka, Natore, Dinajpur, Rajshahi which were formerly dominated by the AHA activists. Jamalpur's Mufti Abdur Rahman and his disciple Bangla Bhai established numerous mosques and madrasas under the banner of AHA. In 2005 Galib was arrested JM was banned. Meanwhile there arose a conflict of interest between Rahman and Galib and the latter forced both Rahman and Bangla Bhai out of the organisation. The duo then formed JMB. The arrest of Galib created a good opportunity for Rahman to strengthen the newly formed party's capacity and spread its influence. Shortly afterward Rahman established his supremacy in a number of Northern districts of Bangladesh. Rahman was son of a renowned Alem and a member of AHA. Rahman was Jubo League General Secretary Mirza Azam's brother-in-law. Siddiqur Rahman came from Bogra and he acquired his now famous name Bangla Bhai for his stint at a coaching centre where he reportedly taught Bangla. He was made the operational head of JMB. During the four-party regime JMB unleashed a reign of terror in Naoga, Nator and Rajshahi. Their initial target was the Sarbahara whose members they killed and maimed ruthlessly. When media reported those incidents some of the ministers rejected the media stories. There were allegations that some of the ministers of the four party government actually patronized JMB. It was however never proved. The government however was forced to act when JMB conducted a near-simultaneous bomb attack in 63 districts and killed two judges in Jhalokathi. The top leaders were arrested and then finally sentenced to death. After the demise of the top brass Habigonj District Jamaat's Amir Saidur Rahman is said to be leading JMB. The JMB cadres have learnt how to make bombs. It was learnt that Rahman used to go out of country very often and it is thought that the JMB cadres were trained outside on explosives. It is unknown if they have link to any other country and whether they received and are receiving money from overseas. The number of its members is not known. According to experts JMB was controlled from outside the country. Those who want to see Bangladesh a failed and non-functional country are the ones who created JMB, they say. JMB's strength is also not projected accurately. It is described to be much more powerful than it really is.
Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh or Huji-B
This militant outfit was formed in 1986 with the Bangladeshis who fought in Afganisthan. Its amir was Moulana Abdur Rahman Faruki. Following the fall of the then Soviet Union the Bangladeshi Mujahedins started to return. On 30 April 1992 Huji came on the scene under the leadership of Sheikh Abdus Salam through a press conference at national press Club. At around the same time Bangladeshi members of an organization called Harkatul Mujahideen also returned to Bangladesh under the leadership of Mufti Hannan and Moulana Abu Zafar. They took an office at Tikatuli. At one point, the senior Muslim clerics got locked into conflict with each other prompting Late Khatib Obaidul haq making a call for unity. In 1993 these organizations merged into one and named itself Harkatul Jihadil Islami Bangladesh. Abu Zafar became the amir and Mufti Hannan became the Publicity Secretary of the new party. But their unity was doomed to be short lived. Zafar and Hannan were allegedly keeping their own outfit going and in 1998 Hannan got expelled from Huji. Hannan and his associates were caught by the Caretaker government and he is facing trial for carrying out a series of terrorist acts including bomb blasts in Ramna, Udichi program in Jessore, in front of AL office on 21 August, murder of Kibria and murder attempt on British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury.
Islamic democratic party or IDP
IDP emerged on 18 May 2008 mainly with a view to take part in the ninth parliamentary elections. Convenor of the party Shekh Salam was said have fought the Soviet army in Afghanistan. The party has its roots in HUJI-B They were however denied registration by the election commission. Kazi Azizul Haq, an advisor to the party said, the EC could not raise any complain against them and they also complied with all the conditions set by the EC. It only suggested us to change a few things here and there in our constitution, Haq reports.IDP top leader Salam is behind the bars. It is hardly known to common people and neither it has any influence on people.
Shahadat- E- Al Hiqma (SEH) It is based in Rajshahi. A young man called Syed Kawsar is it leader. The party had some activities during the BNP-Jammat regime. Once SEH's meeting was resisted by the police and a furious Kawsar ordered his around 50-member strong activists to lay siege around the police station and made speech there. Kawsar's comrades are not known to be armed with firearms or explosive. Over the last 2 years no one heard of it.
Hijbut Tauhid (HT) Hizbut Tawhid is not a party, it is a movement, a movement for establishing the Kolema, explains Samsul Huda, the party spokesperson. He claims those who claim themselves as Alem in Bangladesh are not Alem. They give wrong interpretation of the Quaran and thus cheating with both people and Allah. It is led by BNP leader and former Speaker Humayun Khan Panni's cousin Bayazid Khan Panni. He is a homeopath doctor and presently practicing in Uttara. His followers call him Imam. Panni created a hue and cry writing a book titled "This Islam is not Islam" which was banned by the government. In 1995 he formed the party which has some 109 cases against it. Recently 30 of its activists were arrested in Kushtia. HT's cadres are said to carry hammer, chilly powder and gul which they use if anyone dares to resist them from distributing leaflets, their main political activities apart from selling books written by Bayazid. In an incident on 26 September 2003 HT cadres allegedly killed Hafez Abdul Malek with hammer in Pagla Bazar of Narayangonj. Bayazid claims himself as Imam.. Islam talks about someone called Dazzal who would cheat people. Then will come Imam Mehedi who will rescue people from Dazzal. By calling himself Imam Bayazid actually tries to say that he is that Imam Mehedi.
Ulama Anjuman Al Baiyinaat This organization is run from Razarbagh Darbar Sharif at 5 Outer Circular Road. Presently Peer of the Darbar Sharif is Syed Muhammad Mukhlesur Rahman. His father Wazi Ullah established the darbar Sharif. The monthly Baiyinaat and Daily Al Ehsan are published from here respectively since 1991 and 1996. Convenor of the organization and Editor of the daily Al EhsanAllama Muhammad Mahbub Alam Arif says AnjumanAl Baiyinaat is not a political party nor an organization. "It is basically a forum for the Al Ehsan's readers. We practice sahi sufi. However we have an agenda that is we are in favor of the liberation war. We are in favor of trial of the war criminals. We are opposed to Jamaat Islami and those who do business with religion. BNP and AL are doing politics for the sake of politics. But the Islamic parties in our country are actually doing business with religion. We won't let them be successful," he explains. Allama Mahbub claims that the organization has some 30 lac followers, but they never brought out a procession. However they were allegedly involved in breaking the sculpture in Motijheel. Since we speak the truth a section of Alem is trying to deliberately associate us with militant activities. That's why we have been black listed," says Allama Mahbub Alam Arif.
Hizbut Tahrir HT is an Islamic political party. This party refuses to be bracketed with other Islamic parties in the country. Its Convenor Mohiuddin Ahmed says, "Our ideology is different. Their concept of Khelafat is vague and so is their process. They are like AL and BNP." Starting in 1992 under the leadership of Dr. Syed Golam Mowla, a teacher of Management Department of Dhaka University, the HT has been fighting for establishing khelafat. It is an international organization and was established by Takiuddin Annabahani in Palestine's AL Quds. It spread across the neighboring countries, but at one stage it was banned in Europe, Central Asia and Middle Eastern countries. Regarding their inclusion in the black list Mohiuddin says, "There was no reason to black list us. The only allegation against us that we were the first one to give a statement following the BDR mutiny. The statement went against the government." He also claims that they cannot be stopped this way. Meanwhile some 39 of its members have been arrested. Their activities are still centred in Dhaka and their main target is teachers, students and other professionals. They regularly organize seminars, discussion meeting and distribute leaflets and posters.
Tauhid Trust Tauhid Trust is not a party, it is an NGO which was established by Dr Galib in 2001. It has worked mainly in the Northern part of the country where a sizeable number of Ahle hadit members were active. It is almost dead as a party or an NGO.
Tamira Ud Din Bangladesh The Probe investigation could not find anything substantial about this organization. It was established by Mufti Abdur Rouf who is now behind the bar. Earlier it was active in Savar, Gazipur, Mymenshing, Madaripur, Barisal etc.
Allah'r Dal Little could be known about this party. Alongside JMB, Allah'r Dal emerged in Gaibandha, in 1989. Two educated youths, reported to be Islamic Chattro Shibir cadres, Enamul Haque Mondol's son Matinul Islam Matin and police officer Taslim Uddin's son Babul Ansari established the Allah'r Dal. It was related to Ahle Hadit and JMB and was active in North Bangladesh. Once Babul got himself a job in the security cell of the Parliament Building in Dhaka. On 7 October 2005, he was arrested as the leader of Allah'r Dal, a fraternal organization of JMB. Later, Matin began operations in different parts of the country, including Munshiganj and Jhinaidah, as second-in-command of Allah'r Dal. His name was recorded as Matin Mehdi alias Taroka Matin in the Munshiganj police files. Babul Ansari was sentenced to death in a Jhenaidah court on 28 February. At present it has no activities. Matin Mehedi is in prison.
Islami Samaj Islami Samaj is a group that got separated from Jamaat. It was established by Late Moulana Abdul Jabbar. Presently its Amir is Syed Humayun Kabir and Director Abul Khayer. It hardly has any activities though. Deputy Director Yasin claimed the party is active in 9 to 10 districts. Though Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country the people have always been tolerant and moderate. The common have always rejected such militant forces like we have seen in the case of JMB. The government should be very careful while talking about militancy in Bangladesh. After all how strong are these 12 so called parties and how many followers they have got and what influence they have on the common people. Very little. If they are involved in any illegal activities they should be brought to justice and if there is any foreign link or foreign source of money that should be investigated. But the government should in no way give the impression that Bangladesh is under the threat of militancy.
http://www.probenewsmagazine. |
__._,_.___
