The Taliban have warned Bangladesh against sending troops to Afghanistan. The warning came after the US requested Dhaka to help the coalition forces in the war-ravaged country. The SITE intelligence group, a US service dedicated to gathering information on international terrorist groups, broke the ‘news’ on its web site saying that the Afghan Taliban has reacted strongly to America requesting troops from Bangladesh.
Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, had broached the subject of combat troops from Dhaka when he met Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in New York towards September end. He said Bangladeshi troops could help ensure security and stability in the war-torn Afghanistan. Moni assured the US envoy of further talks on the issue.
Should the Hasina government accede to the American request, Bangladesh would become the 48th nation contributing troops for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It will also become the seventh Asia-Pacific nation to provide troops to the North Atlantic military alliance for its war in South Asia, which has further advanced across Afghanistan’s eastern border into Pakistan with marked ferocity during the past few weeks. NATO would have gained another major ally in the building of its Asian complement using the Afghan-Pakistani war theatre as the grounds for integrating the armed forces of countries on the other side of the world from the North Atlantic for what is expanding into a global U.S.-led military network.
The inclusion of Bangladesh into ISAF, however, would constitute a milestone in two key ways. It would be the only country in South Asia with troops in the war zone aside from the two nations in which the expanding conflict is being fought: Afghanistan and Pakistan. And Bangladesh would be the second most populous state contributing to NATO’s military campaign, only surpassed by the US, as it has the seventh largest population in the world.
Following the Dipu Moni – Holbrooke meeting, Taliban have posted messages in Arabic and Pashto on their website and Jihadist forums calling on Dhaka to spurn the US request.
“(We) believe that the leader of Bangladesh has enough Islamic knowledge and political wit not to involve his (Sic) people in the fight against Islam and against the Afghan people by sending a few hundred soldiers to Afghanistan”, the message read.
It added: “Assuming that the leader would commit such a historic mistake, the religious Muslim people of Bangladesh will not allow their leaders to assist the eternal enemy of Islam against an Islamic neighboring country”.
Within Bangladesh, several pro-Islamist and pro-Left politicians, social activists and a section of media, The Daily Star including, have unleashed a massive campaign with a view to pressurize the policymakers against sending troops to Afghanistan. For years Islamists and the Leftists have formed some sort of alliance for furthering their anti-US, anti-Israel and anti-West agenda. The present campaign though appears to be limited to troops for Afghanistan question, has to be viewed against a much larger canvass. The Grand Alliance government is actively moving ahead with firm determination in combating militant Islam and religious militancy. And it has unnerved certain sections of the society.
Obaidul Quader, Presidium member of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League said “The government must consider the socio-political impact and reality before taking a decision…The US can make a request, but we have our own reality and limitations”.
Mujahid ul Islam Selim, General Secretary, Communist Party of Bangladesh, has termed America’s request for troops as “audacious”, saying that it is entirely their (US) strategic matter and so there’s no question of sending troops there. He remarked that the US has dared to make such request because of submissive policy taken by every government of our country.
Hasan ul Haque Inu, President, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Leftist constituent of Grand Alliance, said “We don’t accept American interferences in different countries in the name of War on terror”. Chipped in eminent writer, journalist and human rights activist Shahriar Kabir, “I don’t consider the Taliban threat important, but in principle we should not send troops to Afghanistan”.
Anti-US, anti-Israel and anti-West groups in the Muslim countries are always seen active in various ways, which ultimately go in favor of religious militancy and militant Islam. Such activities are intensifying in Bangladesh when it is becoming a haven for international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. Pakistan based groups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) that are affiliated to Al Qaida have a presence in Bangladesh.
Several LeT operatives were arrested last year from a madrassa in Chittagong. Elements from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI have reportedly provided the support structure for LeT and other terror groups to operate in Bangladesh.
Following increased security and counter-terrorist operations in Southeast Asia, Jemmah Islamiyah leader and mastermind of the 2002 Bali night club bombings that killed 202 people, Hambali, planned on shifting his operatives to Bangladesh. In fact, his arrest in Thailand in August 2003 took place as he was on his way to Dhaka.
Despite the crackdown, the government still faces challenges from Islamic radicals and violent extremists seeking to destabilize the country’s democratic institutions and establish Shariah law.
The Islami Oikya Jote (IOC) is known to have ties to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a group on the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. HUJI was founded in 1992 by radicalised Bangladeshis returning from Afghanistan with assistance from al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
The HUJI was signatory to Laden’s 1998 fatwa that declared holy war against America and its allies. The group is also tied to the January 2002 attack on the American Center in Kolkata. Aftab Ansari, a leader of Abu Reza Commando Force (ARCF), allied to HUJI, played a key role in the July 2001 abduction of a Kolkata-based businessman for Indian Rupees 3.75 crore ransom. The amount was paid in Dubai through unofficial forex channels, known as Hawala network, and the businessman’s ordeal ended in five-days (July 25-31, 2001). It was out of this money that Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Omar Sheikh had wired $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, leader of the hijackers in the 9/11 multiple terrorist attacks on New York’s Twin Towers.
Foreign-linked Islamist charities play a significant role in financing religious extremism in Bangladesh. After the August 2005 terrorist bombings, Bangladeshi intelligence agencies have accused West Asia based NGOs operating in the country of funneling cash to extremist groups. The report exposed a ‘deep-rooted’ nexus between the charities and leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and the Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ).
Five foreign officials working for the Kuwait based charity Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) were deported after the synchronised bomb blasts (August 17, 2005 ), as they were suspected to be involved in financing the country wide bomb blasts. Before joining the RIHS, the five had participated in the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) activities in the country. The Foundation, a Saudi charity is linked to al Qaeda, according to the US officials. In April 2006, the Islami Bank Bangladesh, the country’s largest Shariah lender, was fined for violating anti-money laundering laws by wire transferring funds to extremists.
There has been an explosive growth of madrassas and kindergarten madrassas in the Bangladesh, many of them funded by Saudi charities. Some madrassas in the interior are known to provide weapons training. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region, for instance, is home to several HUJI several training camps. The area also is notorious for its radical madrassas. Significantly, a staggeringly high proportion of army recruits come from madrassas, resulting in deepening Islamist penetration within the ranks of the Bangladeshi army.
There is a clear sign that the present government in Dhaka is taking steps in combat local, regional and international militancy. It is also understood to be considering the US request for troops to Afghanistan. A section of print media is continuing to spread anti-US propaganda, though.
Consider this critique in the Daily Star written by its Defence and Strategic Affairs editor, Brig. General Mahbub Anam Khan.
“If Bangladesh were to concede to the request it would be the first Muslim country (except, of course, Turkey, which has deployed troops as a part of NATO) to provide combat elements to the war in Afghanistan. Although the UAE, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt are cited as important Muslim countries by many western analysts to show that the US is not without Muslim allies, none of these countries has combat troops on the ground, and Egypt has only a field hospital in Bagram air base. Does our being a Muslim majority country have anything to do with the request?
“It is not for the first time that we have been asked to join the US military bandwagon. The first was in Operation Desert Storm, for which a host of armies from Muslim countries were arrayed to retake Kuwait from Saddam. We had very little option then but to join in, given the hints that were dropped of the consequences if we did not….An unequivocal NO should be the immediate and only reply to the US request. And it is not only because the Taliban has threatened us with grave consequences if we did so, but because there are also moral issues associated with it apart from the question of our national interest. But then there is also the risk of US wrath that could fall on us in subtler ways than the fury of the Taliban. We have to choose between which is the worst and which of the two we are better prepared to resist and survive,” the Daily Star observed.
Testing time it is for the government in Dhaka on domestic and diplomatic fronts.
