While several elements including Pakistan’s infamous Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and one of the key-patrons of Islamist extremism – Turkey are gradually expanding footprint in Bangladesh following last year’s Jihadist Coup, President Donald Trump instead of addressing these extremely disturbing scenarios, which not only would destabilize South Asia – it also would become a major security threat to the United States is seemingly busy in photo sessions with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir in the quest for making “quick bucks” through cryptocurrency as well as deals in rare-earth. According to media reports, Trump’s family is directly linked to the crypto-deal with Pakistan.

Exactly similar blunder took place a few decades ago, when Pakistani ISI became the “top-agent” of “America’s interest” in driving-away Soviet forces from Afghanistan by creating Taliban and other Islamist militancy outfits, by spending billions of dollars – showered by Washington and Riyadh. While America considered Pakistani ISI as its “most-trusted ally in battle against terrorism” – Islamabad took undue advantage of this trust and treated Washington and Riyadh as milking-cows, thus making tons of cash, a significant of which was secretly spent towards creating Islamist militancy outfits like Al Qaeda. Alarmingly, top-brasses in ISI took the dangerous strategy of forcing the US and Saudi Arabia in continuing cash bonanza through creating notorious terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, which would not only pose security threat to Washington – also it would become a serious headache for the US, Europe, rulers in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world and beyond.

Media reports claimed, Turkish intelligence agencies are allegedly providing financial and logistical support to Islamist groups in Bangladesh, particularly the radical outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, raising serious concerns about India’s national security, according to intelligence sources.

The above situation is taking place at a crucial time, when Jamaat-e-Islami’s top leader has publicly pronounced waging guerrilla war against India through its regiment of five million youths, with the agenda of actualizing “Ghazwa” or Islamic conquest of the country. This extremely alarming announcement from Dr. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat was recently declared during a gathering in New York City. It is well-anticipated, such quest of “Ghazwa” would not only remain limited to India. Instead it will spread far-beyond, including the United States, Europe, and Australia. This announcement is even more disturbing when Jamaat-e-Islami has already succeeded in establishing its footprint in the Western nations through various entities, which are operating under different banners and disguises.

Meanwhile, Islamist groups in Turkey are seeing the current situation in Bangladesh, which is ruled by an unelected regime that is heavily influenced by radical Muslims as a stepping-stone towards Islamist militancy in India, Myanmar and other nations in the regions, including Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and beyond. In a recent article, Abhinav Pandya, eminent security expert and founder and chief executive officer of the Usanas Foundation in an article in the Middle East Forum stated, “Pakistan is a key player, supporting and enhancing Turkey’s Islamist influence in South Asia, including Bangladesh. In the future, Turkey’s and Pakistan’s strong footholds in Bangladesh could harm India’s national security”.

Most disturbingly, even the British High Commission in Bangladesh was accused of collaborating with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamists regime by supporting a systematic witch hunt carried out by the Turkish government against some of its nationals living abroad.

To expedite the process of Islamizing Bangladesh and bringing it under rogue rule of Islamists, Muhammad Yunus and his regime – dominated by Islamist-jihadist elements are systematically dismantling Bangladesh Army and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) — the very institutions that safeguard national sovereignty by consistently fighting violent extremism, terrorism and jihad. Instead of appreciating actions of DGFI, one of Bangladesh’s prime counterterrorism agencies, its top-officials are targeted through senseless propaganda, undue legal harassment, and carefully crafted purges.

It may be mentioned here that, for decades, DGFI has been the main bulwark against violent extremism. It has dismantled training camps of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), cracked down on Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), and Ansar al-Islam (local franchise of Al Qaeda), and disrupted ISI-linked terrorist networks.

For Islamist groups, DGFI and Bangladesh Army represent the biggest obstacles to their expansion. Yunus’ regime has already filed “crimes against humanity” charges against former DGFI chiefs and is reportedly considering similar moves against Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman.​ ​

The ultimate objective is to weaken or dismantle the army and replace it with an “Islamic Revolutionary Army” modelled on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Yunus’ regime is spending millions of dollars to smear Bangladesh’s armed forces through well-orchestrated disinformation campaigns, where propagandists are painting the army as corrupt and oppressive while portraying Islamist elements as defenders of justice. These tactics are designed to weaken public trust in the military and prepare the ground for radical restructuring and actualization of “Ghazwa” as pronounced by the Jamaat-e-Islami leader.

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