In a surprising bid, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a statement defending an individual named Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, a member of Al Qaeda-connected ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). In November last year, CPJ issued a similar statement in defense of an individual named Zulkarnain Saer Sami, alias Zulkarnain Saer, alias Zulkarnain Saer Khan Sami alias Tanvir Md. Sadat. According to Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium (TRAC), which is one of the most comprehensive compendiums of information and analysis of terrorist groups and activities in the world, jihadist terrorist Zulkarnain Saer Khan threatened to behead a Hindu rights activist and professor Kushal Baran Chakraborty in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, who succeeded in getting Press Accreditation cards at White House, State Department and the United Nations using fake identity has been making frantic bids in extracting answers from spokespersons at White House, State Department and the UN on domestic affairs of India. He has been repeatedly asking questions related to the arrest of Delhi’s Chief Minister Kejriwal on corruption charges by branding such legal proceedings as “crackdown on opposition” reaching a “crisis point ahead of national elections”.
On March 28, 2024, Ansarey asked Matthew Miller, “What is your response to India’s summoning of the US diplomat over comments regarding the arrest of Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and how do you view the recent political turmoil in India, including the freezing of the opposition party’s bank account? As Amnesty International described the situation, “Crackdown on opposition reaches a crisis point ahead of national elections”.
In response, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. We are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections. And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues. With respect to your first question, I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations, but of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don’t think anyone should object to that”.
On March 29, 2024 Ansarey asked questions related to arrest of Arvind Kejriwal as well as issues to and extracted answer from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Bangladesh’s mission to the UN had objected to his participation in various programs as a “journalist” despite his “active” political roles and affiliation. Speaking to BDNews24, then-Press Secretary of the mission, Bijob Lal Deb, had said, “If active politicians are given media cards, there will be nothing left to say.” He confirmed that the mission sent a letter to the UN objecting to Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey’s presence at the UN and US State Department events as a journalist. Interestingly, Mushfiqul spoke to BD News 24 and claimed there was nothing wrong with simultaneously being a journalist and supporter of a political party.
Mushfiqul has a long history of using his credentials to push the United States to meddle in India’s affairs. Interestingly, on 14th March, he questioned White House NSC Senior Director for Democracy & Human Rights Kelly Razzaouk about India’s democracy position. To his question, Razzaouk categorically said that the US was keeping an eye on the elections happening worldwide, including in India.
It may be mentioned here that, Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey – a fugitive who faces several criminal cases in Bangladesh is a heavily anti-Semite and pro-jihadist individual has served as the Deputy Press Secretary to then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia during the 2001-2006 rule of Islamist coalition government of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. Ansarey, a confidante of Tarique Rahman was particularly assigned to maintain liaison between Tarique and militancy outlets in Bangladesh, including Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), while he also was maintaining communication with leaders of United Liberation Front of Assom (ULFA) on Tarique Rahman’s behalf. He also worked as a coordinator of BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman when Al Qaeda kingpin Ayman al-Zawahiri was hosted by BNP in December 2001.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s hosting Al Qaeda group including Ayman al-Zawahiri was first exposed by eminent journalist and counterterrorism expert Alex Perry, who in a TIME magazine article on April 14, 2002 had exposed Al Qaeda kingpin al-Zawahiri and other members of the terrorist group’s arrival and stay in Bangladesh.
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”.
Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey was directly involved in each of the notorious acts of Tarique Rahman, including August 21, 2004 grenade attacks as well as 10 truck arms haul case. And this notorious individual is regularly visiting White House and the United Nation using press accreditation cards that he managed through false declaration.
It may also be mentioned here that BNP has been termed Tier-III terrorist organization by US courts, while its acting chairman Tarique Rahman is a convicted terrorist who has been living in the United Kingdom since 2007.
According to a credible source, Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey is also maintaining regular contacts with at least two covert diplomats at Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC who are suspected to be officers of Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Islamabad was extremely happy at Ansarey for asking questions related to India’s domestic affairs and it is anticipated that this BNP member may onwards continue such notoriety by bringing-up many more topics related to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
