Bangladesh Islamist force’s ‘India Out’ movement may push the region towards serious security threats

By xeroxing ‘India Out’ movement of Maldives as well as similar incident in Nepal, ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ideological allies have started pushing-forward similar agenda in Bangladesh clearly with the target of instigating masses towards Islamism, jihadism, anti-Hindu and anti-India sentiment.

Bangladesh, the third-largest Muslim country in the world is at the crossroad, with its next general election scheduled to be held by the first week of January 2023 – where anti-Semite, anti-West radical Islamist and jihadist groups are openly showing fangs generating extreme wariness amongst the people in the country and the region as Islamist takeover of Bangladesh would turn it into another neo-Taliban state. Such fear is gradually getting intensified as in the recent years, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is termed as ‘Tier-III Terrorist Organization’ by a number of US courts and its ideological allies such as Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and pro-Caliphate Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) are getting exposed sympathy of the Biden administration. According to documented evidences it maintains connections with Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

Almost two decades ago, during 2001-2006, when an ultra-Islamist and ruthlessly anti-Semitic government comprising Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) was in power, eminent journalist and counterterrorism expert Alex Perry saw Bangladesh as a “deadly cargo” as it had become a breeding ground and safe haven of terrorists, insurgents and militants.

Following publication of Alex Perry’s article, journalist Bertil Lintner in another article in South Asia Terrorism Portal wrote: “…While Bangladesh is yet far from becoming another Pakistan, Islamist forces are no doubt on the rise, and extremist influence is growing, especially in the countryside. According to a foreign diplomat in Dhaka, “In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the leftists who were seen as incorruptible purists. Today, the role model for many young men in rural areas is the dedicated Islamic cleric with his skull cap, flowing robes and beard …”.

It may be recalled here that in 2013, few months away from the 2014 general elections, while pro-Caliphate Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) had gathered hundreds and thousands of madrassa teachers and students, including dozens of individuals who had fought in Afghanistan against Soviet Union and Palestine against Israel as “mujahedeen” had also joined these gatherings thus demanding enforcement of caliphate in Bangladesh with HeI chief as “Ameer” of the caliphate. Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jatiya Party had openly declared solidarity with Hefazat’s dangerous bids. It was later revealed that BNP, Jamaat and other Islamist forces in Bangladesh had secretly chalked-out a blueprint of establishing Sharia rule in Bangladesh by staging an Islamic revolution – xeroxing that of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution in Iran. As result of growing activities of HeI and other Islamist forces in Bangladesh, on February 26, 2015, Roy and Ahmed, both Bangladesh-born US citizens, were visiting Dhaka to attend a book fair when they were attacked by assailants with machetes. Roy was killed and Ahmed survived with critical injuries.

Two related groups have claimed responsibility. Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al Qaeda-inspired terrorist group based in Bangladesh, claimed responsibility for the attack. Shortly thereafter, Asim Umar, the now-deceased leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), posted a widely circulated video claiming that AQIS followers were responsible for the attack on Roy and Ahmed.

On December 20, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken through the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) office authorized a reward of up to US$5 million for information for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any country of anyone involved in the murder of Avijit Roy and attack on Rafida Bonya Ahmed.

In July 2016 there was another jihadist attack in Bangladesh at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka city’s Gulshan area. During this gruesome massacre, several foreign nationals, including locals were brutally murdered by the members of Islamic State.

Additionally, BNP-JeI ultra-Islamist government was actively collaborating ULFA by coordinating and implementing supply of weapons and explosives sent by Pakistani ISI and other foreign elements for these separatist groups.

‘India Out’ movement in Bangladesh

Following ‘India Out’ movement in Maldives and signs of similar activities in Nepal, ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has launched it clearly with the aim of giving oxygen to anti-India and Islamist sentiment, which they party may finally use in mobilizing masses against ruling Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Meanwhile, cyber activists of BNP and anti-India elements are intensifying ‘India Out’ propaganda on social media, while it has also been joined by the Bangladesh representative of Al Jazeera – the Qatari broadcast network which has been extremely hostile towards Sheikh Hasina and ger government.

Supporting ‘India Out’ movement of BNP, in a post on ‘X’ platform, Al Jazeera’s Bangladesh has shared an anti-India video tagging an Islamist propagandist named Pinaki Bhattacharya, who converted into Islam and fled Bangladesh when authorities pressed charges of producing counterfeit medicine and amphetamine inside his pharmaceutical factory.

According to an Indian website, sitting in France as an asylum-seeker, a self-proclaimed cyber activist Pinaki Bhattacharya is anti-Hindu and anti-India extremist. He has been regularly publishing contents defaming Hindu religion. It said, Pinaki became popular amongst radical Muslims and anti-India and anti-Hindu bloc in Bangladesh for his jihadist and anti-India publications. He persuaded Bangladeshi Muslims to wage jihad against the Hindus and join jihadist forces in Jammu and Kashmir in India.

Dozens of cyber activists of BNP and Jamaat are pushing-forward ‘India Out’ propaganda on social media platforms, while some of them are also calling for boycotting Indian products in Bangladesh.

With BNP’s past track record of having connections with Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, as well as regional terrorist outfits such as United Liberation Front of Assom (ULFA) and anti-India insurgency kingpins such as Paresh Baruah, this ultra-Islamist as part of its ongoing ‘India Out’ movement may involve global and regional terrorist groups against India thus posing serious security threats to the region. Moreover, this may also give instigation to locals in joining this plot whereas radical Islamic forces and militancy groups may resurge with its agenda of Islamization of Bangladesh under the garb of hatred towards India and Hindus in particular as well as non-Muslim populace in the country.