Terrorism without borders The capture of two Indian terrorists belonging to the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in the country last month drives Saad Hammadi to investigate how terrorists are using the territory to effect terrorism inside the country
The message was to prepare for future attacks. The Indian terrorists arrested last month were engaged in motivating members to join militant outfits, say intelligence agencies. The two Indian militants, Mufti Sheikh Obaidullah and Maulana Mohammad Mansur Ali alias Habibullah, belonging to the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were teaching in different madrassahs in the country and in the process are believed to have been strengthening militant outfits, says a high official with the Detective Branch (DB)of police. One of their objectives was to organise a local chapter of LeT. The LeT is reportedly a terrorist outfit backed by the Inter-Service Intelligence, Pakistan's external intelligence agency. The capture of Abdul Rouf Daud Merchant in May and the subsequent arrest of at least four other wanted Indian fugitives reveal how terrorists from India are using the neighbouring territories to plot terrorist activities within and outside the country. Obaidullah and Mansur have also claimed their association with the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) – that claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on American Centre in Kolkata on January 22, 2002. Obaidullah has admitted to the interrogators about organising a local outfit of the LeT under the leadership of Amir Reza, who is believed to be in Pakistan. Amir is also a leader of the ARCF, a group allied to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI). Their refuge in the country with active support of the Bangladesh chapter of HuJI since 1995 indicates to their involvement in most Islamist militant movements that began in the country shortly afterwards. Following the arrest of Obaidullah and Mansur, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested six other convicted members of HuJI on August 1, from different areas in Dhaka, Chittagong and Feni. They were among the 41 HuJI members arrested from a training camp at Cox's Bazar on February 19, 1996. The arrested members were sentenced to life imprisonment by the court. After the four party alliance assumed power in October 2001, all 41 members were released on bail by the High Court. An appeal to the court by the accused further reduced their jail term to 12 years. However, except for five, the 36 others have gone into hiding since then. Cross-border links The arrests and subsequent confessions by the militants in the past few months make the functions of terrorists evident and deeply connected to their roots. Both Obaidullah and Mansur have been working as conduits between their operatives in Pakistan and India, they revealed to the intelligence agencies last month. A Detective Branch source says, the two have confessed to being involved in most terrorist attacks that were plotted in India since 2005. The two captured Indian militants disclosed the names of Amir Reza, Khurram Khaiyam and Amzad Hossain, with whom they were in regular contact over the telephone. Khurram is believed to be a financer of the LeT members in Bangladesh. Obaidullah and Amir had previously exchanged several calls and text messages everyday, says a DB official upon scrutinising phone records. They have also named a few other Let operatives hiding in the country, he says. 'We are still in the process of verifying their confessions,' says Monirul Islam, deputy police commissioner of the Detective Branch. HuJI's operations commander Mufti Abdul Hannan (the prime accused in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July 2000 and August 21, 2004) and Obaidullah's friendship dates back to their academic years at the Gangua Madrassah in Uttar Pradesh, India which carried on during their higher education at the Deoband Madrassah in the late-eighties. Obaidullah acquired a degree on fatwa from the madrassah. The two once again met at Peshawar, Pakistan in 1992 when Hannan was returning from the war in Afghanistan and Obaidullah was going there to join it. Most incarcerated senior militants, admit to having close ties with each other since their participation in jihad during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Although the whole picture is yet to be visible, some of the members captured here may have participated in the Afghan war, observes Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka. On his return from the Afghan war, Obaidullah started forming Jihadist outfits in different areas of India against radical Hindu organisations such as the Shiv Sena and RSS. He was facilitating Jihadists in Kashmir to organise anti-military operations and also aided members to go to Pakistan. After drawing the attention of Indian intelligence agencies, Obaidullah sought shelter at a madrassah in Murali junction, in Jessore, in 1995. Hannan was campaigning for HuJI at the district during the same time which paved the way for their reunion. Tracing the rise of militancy Obaidullah and Mansur have been residing in Bangladesh since 1995. The rise of militancy in the country can be traced back to the year 1992, with the Bangladesh chapter of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami demanding the country be converted into an Islamic state at a press conference on April 30 that year. The organisation, reportedly with the assistance of Osama Bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF), intensified its subversive activities in 1996 after the Awami League formed the government. They also brought out their first publication, Jago Mujahid, which served as the outfit's mouthpiece until 2005 when the HuJI was officially proscribed by the government. The publication, however, continued under a new name of Rahmat. HuJI's motive in the country is to establish Islamic Hukumat (rule) by waging war against progressive intellectuals, the higher-up or the influential people in the progressive culture. The terrorist organisation went into full swing of operation with the 1999 blast at the Udichi cultural programme in Jessore. Ever since then, they have orchestrated successive attacks at the Ramna Batamul in 2001, the Awami League rally in August 21, 2004, grenade attack on British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury the same year on October 15 and the August 17, 2005 blast in 63 districts nationwide. Obaidullah and Hannan have visited several sites in the country to establish training camps during early 2000. Obaidullah was looking to establish camps for the LeT, one of which was formed in 2002 at Purashanda, an area between Srimangal and Habiganj. The two had extensively discussed some of the attacks, including the one on August 21, at Hannan's residence in Badda. Abdul Baki, an Afghan Mujaheed and also a HuJI member in West Bengal provided the explosives to Hannan for the August 21 blast, said Obaidullah in a Task Force Interrogation (TFI) cell. Madrassahs: victims to militancy Obaidullah and Mansur have affiliation with several madrassahs in Jessore, Habiganj and Dhaka.. Five of the six HuJI activists captured on August 1 by the RAB were also teachers and principals at different madrassahs in the country. The other person was a broker of plots. On March 24, this year, the Rapid Action Battalion unearthed a madrassah-cum-orphanage in Bhola that the outlawed Ja'matul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) used as one of its training camps. The madrassah was funded by a British-Bangladeshi chemist Faisal Mostafa (45), under a UK-based charity organisation, Green Crescent. A raid into the madrassah unveiled a mini-ordnance factory with huge quantities of small firearms, gunpowder and remote controls. Offshoots and ammunitions They are the buttoners of terrorism. Loading weapons are like buttoning shirts or so they call it in their coded language, say officials of the Special Branch (SB). The Counterterrorism Unit with the Special Branch of police arrested the operations commander of the breakaway faction of the Jama'tul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat earlier in June. Rahim and his associates believed that the leadership of JMB had deviated from the ideologies of Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. The present leadership of JMB has deviated from its Jihadi ideologies by involving itself into extortion and the killing of innocent people, Rahim told interrogators. Rahim along with Selim, another operations commander of JMB, formed the offshoot outfit, proposing its name Islam o Muslim. The new offshoot was formed to retain the principles JMB sought from the Ahle Hadith. The outfit has strong moral and financial support from the Ahle Hadith madrassah at Murshidabad in West Bengal. It is against the democratic principles of the government and believes in an armed struggle to establish the rule of Islam in the country. At least eight members of the new faction under the title, Islam o Muslim were arrested between June and July, from different areas in the Rajshahi division. 'What was surprising to find out was their ability to make ammunitions within the country,' says senior assistant police super, Zannatul Hassan, who heads the counterterrorism unit of SB. The group had training camps in the char (shoal) areas of Dholahat and Nachal upazillas of Chapainawabganj where they trained locals on making ammunitions, says Zannat. The members funded the organisation from their personal incomes earned from alternate professions, mostly as rickshaw-pullers, taxicab drivers and garment workers. The deadly, still alive and thriving Jamaat-e-Muslimeen may well be the next Islamist militant outfit buying into the stakes of the Ja'matul Mujahideen Bangladesh to uphold its spirit as the latter struggles to make its way out amidst a tight watch by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The JMB's highest decision making body, Majlish-e-Shura and its current IT expert, Sayem, are believed to be maintaining contact with the Ja'maat-e-Muslimeen, Zahidul Islam Sumon alias Boma Mizan arrested on May 14, said to the TFI recently. Although fractured, the JMB has never been inactive and under the leadership of Maulana Saidur Rahman, the proscribed militant organisation is believed to be strengthening itself. Five days before the national elections, the counterterrorism unit of the Special Branch captured three regional commanders of the JMB with explosive materials capable of making 450 hand grenades from Gobindaganj, Gaibandha on December 24, 2008. 'They wanted to detonate the grenades in different districts of Rajshahi on the day of election,' says Zannat. The outfit's current concentration has been observed mostly in the North Bengal regions, says a high official of RAB intelligence wing. 'The Naikhangchhari belt is still a safe house for them,' he says. The RAB has arrested at least 48 members of the JMB this year alone, which include members belonging to different tiers of the organisation. The special branch in January arrested Mamun, one of the financiers of JMB who dealt with counterfeit Indian currencies from Banasree. The present funds of JMB are managed by expatriates in Saudi Arabia, says a Special Branch source. The JMB is also reported to be procuring its arms and explosives from militant groups in Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, India and China, which is brought into the country through the land and sea routes. Mizan was arrested in May with large quantities of explosives, grenade making materials and chemical substances along with Jihadi leaflets. The capture of Emranul Haq alias Mainul alias Rajib alias Abu Toba alias Iqbal, on June 21 from Mirpur in the Dhaka city revealed JMB's recruitments stretching up to the educated quarters of society. Emran, a civil engineer from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was apparently heading the information technology wing of the JMB. Four months after the capture of British-Bangladeshi chemist Faisal Mostafa in connection with the Bhola explosives recovered from an orphanage-cum-madrassah, there is no information about the case – considered high profile because of its international links – with the RAB. However, Faisal met the executed JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman several times and also had contact with the current chief Saidur Rahman. He was twice acquitted of charges for conspiring to cause explosion in Britain. The RAB claimed to have arrested Faisal on April 6. The case has been handed over to the police, say RAB officials. Early warnings The government has officially banned four Islamist militant organisations in the country. However, it has identified at least 29 other outfits operating in the country but is unable to impose bans on them without solid evidence, say police sources. The four banned outfits are Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, Ja'matul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami and Shahdat-al-Hikma. Former police chief ASM Shahjahan regrets that even in the event of an international security crisis, terrorist attacks and subsequent investigations are often used for political advantage. The investigations are diverted for political purposes. One must understand that this only gives opportunities for militants to thrive, he says. Terrorism should not be used for political advantages. A united effort is required. There are four 'I's to countering terrorism, says Professor Imtiaz. Incarceration with effective policing and trial, intelligence of the civil and military, intellectual intervention in the Islamic radicalism and investment on education, employment and health can together contain terror. The strengths of the militants are still substantial. 'We don't know how many people they have brainwashed into following their ideologies. Attempting a countrywide blast is not possible without the involvement of a substantial number of people. I don't think the finance and supply ranks have been entirely explored. Have we been able to spot the training areas and the trainers of these militant outfits?' Shahjahan asks. 'There is no scope to look down on the issue.' The hidden threat * LeT operatives hiding in Bangladesh - Detective Branch * DB unveils ties between LeT, ARCF and HuJI Bangladesh * Possibilities of Indian agencies in the country nurturing terrorism: Prof Imtiaz * Indian and Pakistani terrorist organisations have aided attacks in the country since 1999 * Madrassahs exploited to harbour militancy * Militants' finance and supply ranks not entirely explored * JMB allies with new outfit Jamaat-e-Muslimeen * Investigations distorted for political purposes - ex IGP Shahjahan 'Madrassahs have been made an easy scapegoat' Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of International Relations at the Dhaka University talks to Saad Hammadi
The recent arrests of Indian militants in the country allude to the existence of foreign terrorists with active international ties. How far is this, a threat to national security? Any terrorist in the 21st century cannot do without external links. It's difficult for any group to survive at the national level. Funding, logistics and equipments may not be available in one location. It's not surprising that some links have been found between the militants of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since we are referring to them as non-state elements, it is necessary to bring the issue to the notice of the respective governments. This also tells you that we need to coordinate much more intensively than before. Unfortunately, the agencies that work on these issues have always been reserved within their territory. There has been some informal intelligence sharing but not necessarily the kind that we need to have. Since there's so much suspicion, we need to invest in measures such as confidence building and discuss the unresolved issues to overcome the suspicion. Indian terrorists were found to have been staying in the country, long before the country suffered from the first blow of terrorism. Do you believe that India is responsible for the spread of militancy in the country? I don't think the Indian government is directly responsible. But since they are non-state elements, the complicity of a section of Indian state machinery can certainly be there, outside the knowledge of the Indian government. It has happened where elements within CIA, FBI and ISI or Scotland Yard got involved in dubious activities within and beyond their respective countries. So there is every possibility that a section within RAW and other Indian security missionaries may be behind terrorism in the country. The Indian fugitive terrorists have also confessed to staying in the country since the mid-nineties. They also confessed to a number of their operatives crossing the border and organising militancy in Bangladesh. Is there a way to prevent the trespassing of criminals, amidst weak border security? No, it is almost impossible to police the border between India and Bangladesh. It's one of the largest borders between two countries in the world. It's larger than the Indo-China border. Given the population concentration in the border areas without much of an obstacle, it's not territorially constructed. It's not possible to stop the terrorists from crossing the borders in such a scenario. That does not say you shouldn't keep vigilance in the border. Do you think the absence of an extradition treaty between SAARC countries allows for the countries to harbour criminals and terrorists alike? If we know there are people who have been convicted in our courts and are hiding in India, there has to be some ways to deal with it. They have to be sent back. We should have an extradition treaty particularly for criminals. Most of our criminals are known to reside in hotels in India. That is not acceptable. Whether Bangladesh would benefit from a one-to-one treaty or regional, the government has to look into it. The extradition has to be bilateral anyways. I understand there is a political content to it, (the issue of people seeking political asylum) but they don't equate to criminals. You have to come to definition between political asylum and criminals, just like the common definition about terrorism that the SAARC members agreed on in Islamabad after 9/11. Most militants nabbed now, admit to having close ties with each other since their participation in jihad during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. How far do you believe their ties during the Afghan war have impacted on the present Islamist terrorism? We don't have the whole picture but some of these members have participated in the Soviet war. The understanding of Islam we had in South Asia was of the Sufi/Hanafi school of thought. It has changed to a more rigid version with the influence of petrodollars and the Middle East. Since the Middle East gives oil at a favourable rate to all Muslim countries including Bangladesh, it also expects something in return, which is the adoption of Wahabi/Hanbali form of Islam around the world. I call it the Saudi Islam. That Saudi version has some rigid Islamic rules and regulations which has created intolerance. Those who have fought in the Afghan war have been very much infected by the Saudis. The issues of diaspora, petrodollars, the global bashing of Islam have made a lot of members more rigid and intolerant. In every country, the ulterior motives for the terrorists are believed to be different than what they preach (establishing Islam). What exactly then, are their objectives and how similar are they to the global context? The objective here has very much been the adoption of the rigid version of Islam that is there in the Middle East. That includes the downplaying of Hanafi rituals, dress codes, going to shrines of Sufis, treatment of Shias. It's very difficult to know whether agencies of other countries are infected by it and are funding terrorists. The members within the militant outfits themselves may not be aware. Daud Ibrahim is not a religious fellow but he has been known to fund the militant groups. It's a very complex issue that draws serious intellectual investment. Most militant operatives are found maintaining their cover in different madrassahs of the country as teachers and principals. This is something I don't agree with. I think the madrassahs have been made easy scapegoat. The children of the policymakers don't go to the madrassahs. The people getting education in madrassahs don't absorb the qualifications required in the job market. So this is a big unemployment sector. They probably get into mosques or end up teaching religion.. Secondly, the religious knowledge here in the madrassahs is very fragmented. They don't teach the mystic, Sufi, civilisation or tolerant part of Islam. They mainly deal with the rules and regulations. The student is not into poetry or painting, music or architecture. It's unfriendly and creates members who become very intolerant. But to equate that with militancy is something I have my reservations about. Militants could also emerge from secular groups. I don't think madrassahs alone are responsible. Militants in the country have been found earlier with ties to political parties. To what extent do you believe that state politics is behind the existence of militancy in the country? Well, very much, in fact. The political parties hardly have democracy inside them. They have invited the maastans and brown shirts into their ranks and they are now the kingmakers. Now they themselves are ruling members of political parties. The gap between militants and maastans is not very much. A maastan with a knife remains a maastan but a maastan with an AK47 becomes a militant. The trajectory is the same. They may only differ ideologically. Fundamentalists exist in every political party in people who have a singular way of understanding. The whole political party may not be involved but members within the party maybe involved because of external benefits or his or her faith to a cause. |
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