Militancy and Terrorism
Bangladeshhas right wing and left wing fundamentalist extremism. The Awami League (AL)government in Bangladeshin April 2009 blacklisted 12 right wing militant organisations. Theorganisations are Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HuJI) Bangladesh,Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB),Shahadat-e-al Haqima (SAH),Hizbut Touhid, Islami Samaj, Ulema Anjuman al Baiyinaat, Hizb-ut Tahrir,Islamic Democratic Party, Touhid Trust, Tamir ud-Deen, Alla’r Dal. Of these 12groups, four including HuJI, SAH,JMJB and JMB were banned during the regime of BNP-Jamaatcoalition.
The Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP)is the main among the many Maoist splinter organizations in Bangladesh.It was founded in the year 1968 following a split in the Bangladesh CommunistParty (BCP).There has been a spurt in activities of the PBCPrecently but the government is strong action to curb the same.
TheRapid Action Battalion [RAB] of Bangladeshhas the reputation of elimination of a large number of terrorists but is alsoalleged to be involved in human rights abuses and killings in fake encountersand cross firing. Therefore it would be evident that this would remain a bloton the force which other wise has been able to control the spread of extremistelements which had at one time a large susceptibility towards extremism andfundamentalism with both the right and left wing terrorism spreading across theboard.
Onthe whole, actions being taken by the Bangladeshgovernment to restore rule of law in the country are laudable. Apart frombringing old culprits to book, the government has also speedily launched trialsof Bangladesh Rifles rebels. At the same time peace accords such as theChittagong Hill Tracts is also operationalised. There is a general clamp downon radicalization and also support being provided to Indian government bypushing out guerrilla leaders who were lodged in the country under shelter of theintelligence agencies. These positive developments should add to the confidenceof the people and enhance regional relations.
Infact this could be seen as a reasonably successful counter terrorism programmein an Islamic country, the police and the civil society through parallelmeasures have been able to greatly control the spread of the trend. Withgreater vigilance by the Awami League government this threat could be totallyeliminated. There have been allegations from time to time of involvement of BNPand particularly the Alliancepartner Jamaat in supporting fundamentalist groups such as the JMB and HUJI butthese parties have always attempted to deflect the charges as politicalvendetta.
JAN 2010
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