IDP’s open activities began by hosting an iftar party during Ramadan on September 8 in northern Rajshahi district where its leaders claimed to be in negotiations with the government officials for holding political programmes openly. They also claimed they were not involved in any criminal or anti-state activities and admitted that the origin of their organisation was HuJI. They said they were still in jihad mode, as they were in Afghanistan, but their jihad was for ‘rebuilding Bangladesh by promoting true democracy’.
Two top HuJI founders -- Mufti Abdus Salam and Rahmatullah alias Shaikh Farid – were named president and secretary respectively of the party. Forming full-fledged committees in 42 districts and in all police station areas of Dhaka city to that end, they have begun renting offices in districts, forming committees and organising activists in 300 sub-districts across the country.
On the other hand, Bangladesh interim government has so far made no visible effort to arrest HuJI kingpins since banning the group in October 2005. Police and intelligence officials say even though HuJI has been banned, they have never received any instructions from the government to launch any drive against the group’s leaders and activists.
The IDP had launched its organisational tours in northern Bangladesh from September 6. They held meetings in towns and sub-districts of Chapainababganj, Rajshahi and Rangpur. Local law enforcement agencies did not have any idea of their gatherings in the name of IDP. The meetings were chaired by Rajshahi IDP president Maulana Faisal; the meeting in Rajshahi was attended by Afghan war veteran Abdul Kuddus and Abul Kalam Azad, an Arakan mujahid and president of Natore and northern units of IDP. Over 300 workers assembled at the meeting where Rajshahi IDP general secretary Mufti Mustafizur Rahman, vice president Nazmul Ahmed, organising secretary Hussein Ahmed and other leaders were present.
Abdul Kuddus, who reportedly fought in Afghanistan for 17 years against Russian and American forces, was quoted as saying: ‘We are still in a jihad in the country as we were in the past in Afghanistan against Russia and America. But now we are fighting against evil-education, corruption and communalism.’ IDP claims to have had discussions with the government at different levels and say they have convinced the authorities of their innocence in any violent, unlawful activity.
HuJI has a long history in Bangladesh. Around 40,000 Bangladeshis reportedly joined the Afghan war and a number of returnees formed HuJI’s Bangladesh chapter in late 1980s. Returning from the Afghan war, Mufti Abdul Hannan and Mufti Abdur Rouf floated a separate organisation, Harkatul Mujahideen. Later, on the advice of senior Islamic scholars, Harkatul Mujahideen merged with HuJI and the new HuJI was officially launched under the leadership of Mufti Abdus Salam in Dhaka in April 1992.
In 1998 when Abdur Rouf criticised Islamic scholars and Abdul Hannan was found engaged in anti-state activities, they were expelled from HuJI. The group was then dissolved and HuJI leaders, except Rouf and Hannan, continued working under a new organisation, Islami Dawati Kafela, Bangladesh. HuJI leaders and activists also went into hiding when the Awami League government launched a crackdown on them following an attack on late poet Shamsur Rahman and an assassination attempt on Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
As the media ran several adverse reports on the activities of HuJI, Jamiat-ul-Mojahedin Bangladesh (JMB) came to limelight by blasting bombs across the country. After the government launched a crackdown on JMB, HuJI leaders succeeded in convincing the authorities that none of their leaders and activists was involved in any kind of violence or militant activities. They also told the government that a faction of HuJI men led by Rouf and Hannan, who were responsible for violence, was expelled from the organisation in 1998.
The IDP may now have submitted registration papers to EC but the poll office should face difficulties in registering Islamic political parties as the existing laws do not allow parties to contest in the name of or on the basis of religion. The Special Powers Act (SPA) 1974 strictly restricts formation of political parties on the basis of religion. In addition, new provisions of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) now stand against registration of Islamist political parties.
In Bangladesh, all militant outfits are linked -- all of them! When one group is banned, another welcomes leaders of the banned group to its platform to operate unhindered. A particular group -- that has not been banned -- is even ready to accept all members of a banned group. Trends suggest this keeps their flow going. Ideologically they are all the same; they all believe in religious extremism and their main objective is to spread ultra-religious activities across Bangladesh.
Intelligence reports say Islamic militants have started to reorganise in the guise of different religious groups. An outfit called Islami Dawat is continuing with its clandestine campaign of recruiting new members who are also being trained. Several madrassas located in remote areas of Bangladesh have been turned into training camps. The objectives of these organisations are the same although they are grouping up in different names. Sources say about a dozen Islamist outfits, including Islami Dawat, Islami Shamaj, Tamir-ud Din and Islamic Democratic Party, are engaged in distributing leaflets across the country. Educated people such as doctors and engineers of all ages are joining these groups, which are inviting people at large in the name of religion. After induction these people are being trained. All of this came to light following the arrest of a few militants belonging to Islami Shamaj in Bandarban and Jamalpur.
Intelligence reports also say members of JMB and HuJI have started quitting their organisations after law enforcement agencies arrested about 150 of their members including two dozens leaders and blasted their explosives reserves. Many of them went underground and tried to return to normal life when they saw the ignominious end of their leaders’ careers. However, sources say militants who went underground have started to reorganise their groups as Bangladesh's anti-militancy drives have been non-existent for a long time now. Leaders of these groups say they have been imparting patience and morality to the young people for training them on how to prevent anti-Islamic activities. They also claim they are not planning any armed revolution but simply inviting people towards Islamic ways of life.
Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Shakhawat Hossain has said that EC would not allow any party to register if it is found to be engaged in militancy. He also said the government had banned the party named HuJI but not its members, hinting that IDP is no longer HuJI and has become a full-fledged political party. This means the EC is likely to allow IDP – with all ex-HuJI members -- to take part in the parliamentary poll. This is what ails Bangladeshi administration; they keep elements of militancy alive in some form or the other so that they can play a role in Bangladesh politics all the time. Or else why would the law enforcers allow them to form a party in the first place? Either the government intelligence is weak or it does not act. This is more the case when a state of emergency is on and no political party can hold any big gathering. This attitude of the government was also evident when Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh -- another party believed to be a big threat to the secular society of Bangladesh -- was holding big rallies protesting against the language used for a cartoon published in vernacular daily Prothom Alo. They said the cartoon made fun of Prophet Muhammad. The rallies were totally defying government emergency regulations. Bangladesh government doesn’t even allow human rights activists to gather for meetings.
Why is the government harbouring Islamists? That’s a million dollar question.
Left groups in the country have an explanation for this. They say those who want to turn Bangladesh into a Talibani state are conspiring to demolish sculptures in the country. The government and some foreign powers have been patronising these Islamists. The objective of the government, the leftists say, is to create a confrontational situation for justifying the continuation of emergency regulations and to foil the parliamentary poll. If this is true, Bangladesh is headed for tough times ahead.
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