The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca
visited Dhaka in the third week of May 2004. There were concerns on the
part of Bush Administration vis-à-vis Bangladesh because the news coming
from this impoverished nation is causing some concern worldwide.
For one thing, members of a virulent Islamic group emerging in the
northwestern part of the country who goes by the name ‘Jagrata Muslim
Janata’ (JMJ) or ‘Vigilante Muslim Masses’ have taken laws in their
hand as they mete out “justice” by killing other Bangalees who they
think belong to an outlaw political group. The leader of this group goes
by the name ‘Bangla Bhai.’ The other reason the U.S. authorities are
perturbed is due to the rise in sectarian feud between the country’s
majority Sunni population and a minority Muslim group by the name
Ahmadiyya.
Many fundamentalist Muslim clerics in Bangladesh would very much like to
see that the government of Khaleda Zia declares Ahmadiyya as non-Muslims.
As an initial step, the government has banned the publications of
Ahmadiyya, which is a direct assault on the minority sect of Muslims. This
banning of their publications infringes on their rights to express their
religious feeling guaranteed by the constitution of Bangladesh.
Many news reports and editorials were written in May 2004 on the activity
of JMJ cadres and their leader ‘Bangla Bhai.’ It turned out that the
JMJ thugs were operating in few northwestern districts with the blessings
from police and few BNP lawmakers from the same districts. Mrs. Khaleda
Zia was powerless to suggest even to the Home Minister to issue an arrest
warrant for JMJ chief ‘Bangla Bhai.’ The police chief – a DIG - in
the district of Rajshahi refused all along to arrest JMJ hoodlums and
their leader on the ground that no arrest order came from Dhaka. The JMJ
lawbreakers were acting as if they were the lawmen in the northwestern
districts.
Nonetheless, the police looked the other way assuming that the JMJ goons
violated no laws. Now upon questioning by newspaper reporters the same
police officer say that no one from the village, where JMJ cadres were
active, had complained against the forces of ‘
Bangla Bhai.’
These claims by the police are untenable, to say the least.
Bangla Bhai.
The police hierarchy in Bangladesh knows it darn well that in the
4-party coalition government of BNP the Islamists could exert more
pressure on the Prime Minister. Two very powerful ministers from
fundamentalist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, wield power and in all likelihood,
they may have persuaded the lady Prime Minister to ignore JMJ men’s
foray into law and order in the western districts. They must have opined
something like this: the JMJ men are doing our agrarian society a huge
favor by extra judicial killing of Sarbahara (communist) outlaw men. Why
should the police interfere in the process?
There is no question about Khaleda Zia’s meek and weak personality vis-à-vis
the Islamists that are in her cabinet. The Islamists wield way too much
power. They are the ones who blocked the police from arresting the JMJ
goons in the first place. The two ministers in Khaleda Zia government were
also aided by two members of the parliament (MPs) from northwestern
districts of Bangladesh where the outlawed communists (Sarbahara) are
seemed to be very active. These two MPs according to published news report
in Dhaka had sought the help of JMJ cadres to hunt the communists. The
policy is popularly called as “playing fire with fire.”
Many people in the affected area in the northwestern district had
complained to the news reporters that the JMJ men had harassed and
physically manhandled many innocent people. For example, the women who
would not dress a la Islamic fashion had received threats from JMJ goons.
These ruffians had taken laws into their hand while police had asked the
rural folks to give a helping hand to Bangla Bhai’s force, the JMJ
goons.
Thanks to all the newspapers published in Bangladesh for bringing the news
of JMJ cadres’ activities in northwestern districts of Bangladesh.
Because of the press’ relentless efforts, the U.S. authorities came to
learn about the lawlessness that was engendered by Islamic hooligans.
That is the reason when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia,
Ms. Rocca, called on Industries Minister and ruling coalition partner
Jamaat-e-Islami, Amir Motiur Rahman Nizami, to convey her concerns about
the Ahmadiyya issue and Bangla Bhai, who runs a vigilante force against
outlaws in the northwest reportedly under government patronage, the
Bangladeshi minister said the most outrageous thing to defend and
extricate the Jamaat.
Maulana Nizami told one of the newspaper reporters in Dhaka that he
defended the government ban of Ahmadiyya publications because “the claim
by Ahmadiyyas as Muslims is not acceptable to Muslims", since
“Ahmadiyyas distort Islam.” Being oblivious to repression against
Hindu and Buddhist minorities since October 2001 the same minister added
that he assured the US official that there is no religion-based
confrontation in Bangladesh. What a liar he is!
The same minister of Khaleda Zia told a reporter in Dhaka that when Bangla
Bhai issue came up during the conversation with Secretary Rocca he blurted
out, “I told her that neither I nor my party knows this so-called Bangla
Bhai... I told them that we did not know of the existence of any Islamic
militant group in Bangladesh.” Is Maulana Nizami suffering from
Alzheimer disease? Or, is he lying through his teeth? We all read news
account of a violent confrontation between armed Islamic group, Jama'atul
Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), and the police on August 14, 2003, in
Joypurhat. In that clash, the JMB cadres snatched guns from police and
that ensued a bloody confrontation resulting in the injury of six
policemen. Two police officers were reprimanded for negligence in duty.
The police, however, were able to arrest 12-13 JMB men. But because of the
influence paddling by the Islamist politicians close to Khaleda Zia, the
PM, all arrested men were released. What a mockery of governance and
justice! There is a wide belief that Maulana Nizami was instrumental in
persuading the authority to release the JMB men. Now hardly before a year
could pass by, Maulana Nizami says that he has no knowledge of Bangla Bhai
or his force, JMJ. Mind you, the vigilante force of JMJ (of Bangla Bhai)
is the same force that used to be called JMB. After a bad publicity in the
press in August 2003, the JMB had mutated the name into JMJ.
It is exactly the same organization, which had a close connection to
Jamaat-e-Islami. Many experts in Bangladesh had opined that in the
aftermath of Joypurhat incident JMB was an armed cadre of Hurkat-ul-Jihad
(HUJ) – a notorious global Islamic outfit. Knowing all this information
by heart how could Maulana Nizami resort to prevarication of high order.
Does he think that people will fall for his cooked-up story?
The government of Khaleda Zia knows fully well that inside Bangladesh all
kinds of virulent Islamists have begun their assault against the secular
forces. But still they are in the denial a big time. On May 17, 2004,
several newspapers reported some quite revealing information on JMB (same
as JMJ) outfit. The armed group is the brainchild of one Maulana Abdur
Rahman who formed the underground organization in 1998. Maulana Rahman
went to Saudi Arabia to receive education who later worked in Saudi
Embassy for many years. There, he must have been indoctrinated to Wahhabi
teachings and ultimately to the cause of Jihad. It is hardly a coincidence
that assault on secular organizations and minority’s house of worship
had started right after the formation of JMB.
The first two bombs rocked the town of Jessore on March 6, 1999, killing
10 people attending a cultural soiree hosted by Udichi, the cultural wing
of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in Jessore. Is it coincidental that
the same virulent Islamic group is now hunting CPB armed cadre in the
western districts.
The industry minister of Bangladesh, Maulana Nizami, should stop lying
through his teeth. He is pretending to know nothing about the identity of
Bangla Bhai’s marauding group. Both he and Khaleda Zia know the very
identity of various Islamic goons operating in Bangladesh with their
blessings. The present government is soft on Islamic groups that are
waging Jihad on communists and other secularists. It is an ideological
war, undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the police have taken side already.
Just the other day the JMJ cadres and their commander, Bangla Bhai, went
underground after police had alerted them to lie low. Even then, Bangla
Bhai went to visit one of his fallen jihadists who were recuperating from
an injury in the government-run hospital in a nearby town under the
watchful eyes of the police. So what in the world is going on?
The bottom line is that the police perhaps under order from Khaleda Zia
Administration are helping the jihadi brigade to go underground. Instead
of arresting, the police were helping them. To add insult to injury, the
police said that no arrest order had come from Home Ministry. On top of
it, the Industry Minister who himself is an Islamist of high order lied
through his teeth to Secretary Rocca telling her that he (the government)
had the slightest clue who these Islamic goons were.
In his heart, Nizami knows very well that Bangla Bhai’s organization,
Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), had mutated its name into Jagrata
Muslim Janata (JMJ). Soon we will hear from the Prime Minister who will
also give us her usual song and dance telling the newspaper reporters that
the identity of Bangla Bhai’s organization was not known to her until
very recently. When will this litany of lies from government stop? I for
one have no clues.
-----------------------------
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New
Orleans, USA
