JMB plans liberated zones in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Map

The outlawed Jamiatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is regrouping. It has long abandoned traditional hideouts in Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Rajshahi. These days the focus is on Satkhira, Cox’s Bazaar and Chittagong Hill Tracts to carve out a ‘liberated zone’ on the pattern of Swat region in Pakistan where the Taliban have had a field day.

Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat and Sajedur Rahman alias Hanif succeded Shaikh Adbur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. Their leadership was also short-lived. After his ‘return’ from India, Shahadat emerged as the chief organiser of ‘Islam and Muslim’, a new face of the JMB. Shahadat and Hanif have since been taken into custody by the Special Branch from Gazipur.

Shahadat operated for two and-half years in Murshidabad, Nadia and Malda districts of West Bengal on the instructions of Shaikh Abdur Rahman and his deputy, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai (both were executed in 2007 after conviction for killing two judges).

JMB activists have been striking Bangladesh countryside at regular intervals. For instance, recently, a JMB militant laid siege to the Bangladesh Tele Communication office at Habiganj for three and a half hours and threatened to blow it up holding two persons – one of them a child-hostage. The nerve-racking standoff ended when the police freed the hostages freed and captured the militant who tried to flee by exploding bombs.

Leaflets in Bengali and Arabic which were found near the synchronized blast sites (Aug 17, 2005) called for establishment of Islamic rule in the country. It hailed JMB activists as the soldiers of Allah, and said they have taken up weapons to introduce Allah’s rule in Bangladesh.  The leaflets dubbed the present democratic system as creation of ‘Kafer.’ And appealed to the armed forces, BDR and police personnel to protect Allah’s laws instead of man-made laws prevailing in the country.

Post-blast investigations led to several arrests. And revealed that JMB had held a specialized arms training camp on located on Bangladesh-Myanmar border. Maulana Nabi of Sudan and Maulana Azhar of Pakistan imparted training.

Interrogations of Shaikh Adbur Rahman and Bangla Bhai threw up some interesting details – on training, funding, and manpower.  The interrogation reports are not made public but these are veritable mine of ‘information’.  

One nugget, for instance, it is said, is Abdur Rahman’s confession that he had received arms training in a LeT camp in POK. On returning home, he had set up training centers across Bangladesh with money coming from Al Qaeda, Taliban and other sources.

Some former ministers and MPs of BNP and JEI backed JMB, Abdur Rahman told the press after his arrest. He even named Altaf Hossen Chowdhury, former Commerce Minister and Ruhul Quddus Talukdar, Deputy Minister for Land Development and JEI leaders, and Matiur Rahman Nizami, former Industries Minister as some of his patrons.

JMB comprising mostly the JEI and ICS (JEI student front) activists commenced operating in the year 2002 with the sole objective of pursuing Taliban model of Islamic revolution in Bangladesh. Three years later in Feb 2005, Dhaka was banned the outfit under pressure from donor countries but that did not come in the way of its growth and of backing of a section of political and bureaucratic establishment.

Foreign funds for Islamic splurge averaged between Tk 400 and Tk 500 crore every year, according to an estimate of the NGO Bureau of Bangladesh. The money was channelized through JMB and like minded pro-AI Qaeda outfits. The money flows came from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt. According to a report, about 4 % of Saudi Arabia’s annual budget is earmarked for promoting Islamic causes all over the world. Out of this, 2% is reserved for the Indian sub-continent, especially for Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. And this Saudi funding is channelized through Pakistan’s ISI for pro-al-Qaeda outfits in these countries.

Moreover the JMB has also been receiving huge funds through hawala route.  Abdur Rahman’s brother Waliur Rahman has also been using this route to finance his brother from Saudi Arabia where he is presently staying.

The continued crackdown has not broken the back of JMB. It has been regrouping and restructuring and has become the militant amoeba. Allahar Dal, Hizb-e-Abu Omar, Tanzin-e-Tamiruddin, Jadid Al Qaeda and Al Firdous are some of the new brand names.

The JMB cadres are resurfacing as Imams and Madrasa teachers. Using this perfect cover, they are carrying out violent activities under different banners. The three near simultaneous bomb blasts on the May Day in 2007 at railway stations in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet demonstrated their ability to strike at will.  Jadid Al Qaeda had carried out these dare devil acts to ‘revenge’ the execution of JMB’s top leaders. The public prosecutor who had handled the case was shot dead.

Sleuths on the JMB trail say the outlawed outfit is focusing on car bomb attacks. A pointer to the new strategy was the recent seizure of huge stockpiles of explosive materials, arrest of many young JMB militants. The arrests and seizures also bear witness to JMB’s wide spread presence in Bangladesh. At least 25 of the 64 JMB district commanders have reportedly managed to evade arrest, and they have joined hands to set up suicide squads to carry out attacks on top political leaders. On their hit list is Prime Minister Sheik Hasina.

Expert view is that there is a need to go beyond JMB and its allies. The focus should shift to cutting the links between Bangladesh outfits and Islamic terrorist networks spawned by Al Qaeda, Talibans and Jihadis trained and transported by Pak ISI and LeT. Simultaneously, the authorities should track and pin down mentors and patrons of militants amongst political parties. Also choke the source of funds. Otherwise the menace will keep disappearing during police crackdown and reappearing after the crackdown.