November

IGNORED
Bangladesh has contributed to no less than
36 Jihadi groups worldwide including in the
Philippines, Chechnya and Kashmir. This is
not to imply any official encouragement by
Bangladeshi governments but often one tends
to overlook the extent of radicalization
among Bangladeshis (and the secular
counter to this radicalization).
»»
SURYA GANGADHARAN
B
angladesh
has contributed to
no less than 36 Jihadi groups
worldwide including in the
Philippines, Chechnya and
Kashmir. This is not to imply any
official encouragement by Bangladeshi
governments but often one tends to
overlook the extent of radicalization
among Bangladeshis (and the secular
counter to this radicalization).
Some of this radicalization is happening
below the radar, low profile because it
is happening in the rural areas where
Islamists of the Jamaat ul Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB), fired by more
puritanical versions of the faith, are
seeking to root out the prevailing Sufi
order. Echoes of that struggle are being
seen and heard in West Bengal right
next door.
“The JMB has been at the receiving
end of a crackdown by the Bangladesh
authorities for some time now,” said
Saleem Samad, well known Bangladeshi
journalist and writer. Speaking over
the phone from Dhaka he said: “Some
of its leaders and cadres have been
eliminated, others are in jail and some
have fled across the border into West
Bengal and taken sanctuary.”
There they remained undetected or
as it is being argued by some, were
“allowed” to remain undetected by
the government of Mamta Banerjee
keen to ensure the loyalty of Muslim
votes (assembly elections are due in
2016). Warnings from the Bangladesh
authorities last year were either ignored
or suppressed, although to be fair, there
was nothing specific in the warnings.
“The Bangladesh authorities themselves
were not sure,” said Samad. “They
were confident their crackdown had
weakened the JMB in the country,
but were unclear about their exact
numbers, leadership and organization
because JMB members never enrolled
for national identity cards, the group
does not have a website, it does not liase
with the press.”
In that sense the Oct 2 Khagragarh blast
was when the penny dropped. India’s
National Investigation Agency (NIA)
recovered 55 Improvised Explosive
Devices (IED) from the blast site, and
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