Is Global Islamic Terror Rearing Its Head In Bangladesh? – Analysis

By Rupak Bhattacharjee

Bangladesh is currently witnessing an alarming rise in extremist violence with radical Islamic groups affiliated to the international terror networks continuing to target secular bloggers. In yet another gruesome incident on May 12, Ananta Bijoy Das, a 33-year-old banker was hacked to death in the northeastern city of Sylhet for criticising religious fanaticism and dogmas.

Progressive writers and online activists have been attacked throughout Bangladesh with disturbing regularity. Das is the third blogger to be brutally murdered this year, in what seems to be a systemic killing spree unleashed by the Islamic militants. The killing of Das took place only 10 days after the Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for the fatal attack on writer Avijit Roy. In a statement issued on May 2, a leader of AQIS said such “assassinations are part of a series of operations” launched on the orders of its chief.

Immediately after the attack, an obscure outfit Ansar al-Islam claimed that Das was killed by the AQIS. It accused Das of being an “anti-Islam atheist blogger” who regularly mocked “Allah and Islam”. It also warned of more attacks on so-called atheist bloggers.

The three Bangladeshi bloggers killed in less than four months were on a list of targets drawn up by the Islamic militants. Das’ name was included in that list and he had been receiving death threats for some time. His friends say the frequency of threats increased after the killing of Roy on February 26. Das was close to Roy and he used to write for Mukta-Mona, a blog created by the slain author.

While Das was critical of religious fanaticism and attacks on free thinkers, his writings mainly focused on issues related to science. He had authored a number of books on science and edited a quarterly magazine called “Jukti” (Logic). Fellow bloggers insist that despite being a vocal critic of religious fanaticism, Das had never ridiculed any particular religion.

The barbaric killing of Das has shocked Bangladesh’s civil society. Several organisations strongly condemned the murder and hundreds of online activists staged protest demonstrations demanding immediate arrest of the killers. The Bangladesh Online Activists Network believes that the planned killing of bloggers is part of the diabolic designs of the Islamic militants to turn Bangladesh into a “religion-based” country.

Taking advantage of the prevailing political uncertainty resulting from the protracted power rivalry between the ruling Awami League (AL) and the major opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the religious extremists and reactionary elements have been making repeated forays into the Bangladesh polity. During the last few years, a number of radical Islamic outfits have emerged under different names. In early May, the Rapid Action Battalion recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from some cadres of a new jihadi outfit, called Saheed Hamja Brigade.

Another Islamic militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) has been making frenetic efforts to hog media limelight by taking credit for the recent killings of three bloggers. The outfit’s chief and six activists were implicated in the Rajib Haidar murder case. Blogger Haidar was murdered on February 15, 2013 when Bangladesh had been swept by the Shahbag movement vociferously demanding capital punishment of Islamist war criminals of 1971.

The ABT is a potent threat to the country’s democracy, political stability and security. In 2014, it asked “patriotic armed forces” to dismantle the current secular democratic dispensation to establish a “Caliphate” in Bangladesh. Latest reports suggest that it has threatened to kill 10 prominent personalities, including political advisor to the premier H.T. Imam and Dhaka University Vice-chancellor Arefin Siddique. Bangladesh police are yet to prove ABT’s links with the dreaded international terror groups, like Islamic State and Al Qaeda. Police recently asked the home ministry to ban the outfit.

Along with Hefazat-e-Islam, a radical Islamic group, the ABT published a hit list of 84 atheist bloggers. Nine of them have already been physically eliminated. Attacks on progressive writers and independent thinkers began in the early 1990’s. Victims of Islamist attacks include renowned poet Shamsur Rahman, writer Humayun Azad, blogger Asif Mohiuddin and Rajib Haidar.

Meanwhile, the global Islamic terror groups have stepped up their activities in Bangladesh. In 2013, Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri asked his Bangladeshi followers to wage jihad against the “atheist” Awami League government that “protects those who publicly ridicule the Prophet”. Intelligence inputs say some Bangladeshi fighters did respond to the call. In a video message, the Al Qaeda chief urged the Muslim clerics of Bangladesh to lead an “intifada” (uprising) against the present democratic system to create a “Shariah” state.

The religious extremist groups are engaged in a fierce competition with the AL government for power and influence. They have expanded their influence over the society as the Arab-funded Islamic seminaries owing allegiance to Wahabi and Salaafi schools of thought have flourished in the country in the last two decades.

The role of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami has also come under the scanner as most of the jihadi outfits maintain close links with it. The largest Islamist party is facing an existential crisis after the conviction of its top leaders for committing heinous crimes in the 1971 war. In the prevailing circumstances, it is likely that the party would join hands with the extremists to vent its anger on the secular bloggers who are soft targets. The national security experts of Bangladesh say the party’s enormous financial assets provide incentives to many young people to join Islamist ranks.

Bangladesh has always been a moderate Muslim nation where a vast majority of people follow Sufi-inspired Islam. However, this trend has now been challenged by the radical Islamists. The growing religious intolerance in Bangladesh could be attributed to this factor. The young bloggers are pitted against religious bigots who want to strictly enforce Islamic norms and practices in a traditional society like Bangladesh.

As pointed out by international human rights groups, the space for freedom of expression has deteriorated sharply in recent years in Bangladesh. Critics say the government has not properly addressed the rising cases of bloggers’ killing. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is treading cautiously in the volatile polity and her government has restrained itself from making public statement on the issue to avoid being dubbed as “atheist” by its detractors.

The number of outspoken voices against religious bigotry and obscurantism has been steadily increasing in Bangladesh. Most of them are neither affiliated to the mainstream political parties nor organised under any strong platform. Therefore the possibility of further attacks on secular bloggers cannot be ruled out completely. It is imperative that the AL government, which vows to uphold its secular credentials, initiates concrete measures to stop such killings, provides protection to the online activists who are vulnerable and ensures freedom of thought and expression as enshrined in the constitution.