Bangladesh: "Islam-o-Muslim" and Resurgent Islamist Forces

By Animesh Roul

Originally published as "Islam-o-Muslim and the Resilience of Terrorism in Bangladesh" Terrorism Monitor, (Jamestown Foundation) Volume: 7 Issue: 22, July 27, 2009.

I just published one article on the Islam-o-Muslim, an offshoot of Jama'at ul-Mujahedeen Bangladesh, and how and where outlawed groups are trying to revive terrorism in the country in the face of renewed counterterror efforts by government agencies.

Here is an excerpt.

After a relatively long period of calm, Islamist militancy in Bangladesh is showing new signs of life, even in the face of continuous crackdowns on terrorist infrastructure and activity by counterterrorism forces in the country.

Security officials have long established that many of the outlawed terrorist groups have been trying to regroup and reorganize after lying low (mostly in northwestern and southwestern Bangladesh) after a state of emergency was declared in January 2007. In June 2008, reports came quickly of the reemergence of terrorist groups such as Jama'at ul-Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB), Allahr Dal, Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) and Hizb-ut Towhid (HuT). The revival was especially strong in the southwestern districts of Kushtia, Meherpur, Jhenidah, Magura, Chuadanga, Jessore, and Satkhira. Intelligence sources revealed that all these groups have maintained close operational ties and carried out terrorist operations on Bangladeshi soil. One estimate suggested there were about 12,000 cadres actively operating in the country, mostly madrassa (Islamic seminary) teachers, students and clerics of mosques (Daily Star [Dhaka], June 12, 2008). In April of this year, Bangladesh intelligence agencies declared that the Islamist terrorist groups are reorganizing with the aim of making a deadly comeback (Daily Star, April 29).

In the midst of this evolving terrorist scenario in Bangladesh, a new jihadi outfit has emerged under the name of Islam-o-Muslim (IoM). The existence of IoM, a hitherto unknown group that security forces believe is a dissident breakaway faction of JMB, came to light when the Detective Branch (DB) of the Bangladesh police apprehended JMB terrorist Mustafizur Rahman (a.k.a Montu) in Dhaka’s Fakirerpol district on June 28, followed by the June 30 arrest of another JMB terrorist from the Gazipur district, Abdur Rahim (a.k.a Shahadat Hossain), who claimed to be the chief of IoM. Security forces also apprehended a pair of IoM area commanders identified as Sajedur Rahman (a.k.a Hanif) and Jalal Uddin (BDNews24.com, July 3; New Nation [Dhaka], July 3). On July 6, a joint team of police and paramilitary personnel from the Bangladesh Rifles arrested senior IoM operative Selim (a.k.a Saifullah), the IoM second-in-command and military affairs commander in Chapai Nawabganj (BDNews24.com, July 8; Daily Star, July 8).

After this string of arrests, the elite counterterrorist Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) claimed they had foiled IoM’s attempt to expand its activities by arresting many of its top leaders in a stepped-up crackdown on the terrorist infrastructure in Bangladesh. After extensive investigation, Bangladesh police have now confirmed that at least four JMB suspects arrested on earlier occasions in various parts of Chapai Nawabganj were actually IoM members. These suspects were identified as Abdul Mumin, Abdur Raqib, Rabiul Islam and Abdul Munib.

The interrogations of Abdur Rahim and other suspects revealed that IoM was formed in April 2009 to dominate the northwestern part of Bangladesh. With around 10 to 15 Ehsar (full-time) members and many Gayeri Ehsar (part-time) activists, IoM reportedly tried to expand in Rajshai division (bordering India’s West Bengal State) to establish a free zone consisting of the Gomastapur, Shibganj and Bholahat portions of the Chapai Nawabganj frontier district, Bagmara of the Rajshahi district and Raninagar and Atrai of the Naogaon district.

The arrest of Abdur Rahim and Sajedur Rahman, both former members of the JMB’s Majlis-e-Shura (Council of Advisors), brought this new outfit to the fore of the ever-expanding Islamist landscape in Bangladesh. Abdur Rahim, an alumnus of Islami Chhatra Shibir (the student wing of Jamaat-i-Islami Bangladesh), joined JMB in 2002. He was appointed chief of the Bagmara sub-district initially and was actively involved in JMB’s violent activities targeting left-wing Sarbahara activists in Rajshahi district. However Rahim, a close associate of Siddiqul Islam (a.k.a Bangla Bhai, leader of the radical Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh - JMJB), fled to India after the countrywide crackdowns on JMB’s top leadership following the serial bomb blasts in August 2005 (Daily Star, July 7). Rahim reportedly worked for JMB’s cause in India by raising funds and new recruits in and around the Murshidabad, Nadia and Malda districts of India’s West Bengal state. After his return to Bangladesh early this year, Rahim formed IoM due to the internal feud growing within the ranks of the JMB, primarily over financial and ideological matters.

Unlike JMB, which used various terror tactics in the country ranging from suicide attacks to planting bombs and explosives, the IoM aims to wage jihad with small arms, focusing on weapons and ammunition manufacturing in their hideouts. Police seized shotguns, bullet-making materials, and books on jihad from all the IoM cadres they have arrested so far. Both Abdur Rahim and Selim vehemently opposed many of the JMB’s activities, especially bomb blasts. Instead they have chosen assassination-style killings with small arms as their main tactic.

The issue has couple of other Intersting articles: "Hafiz Mohammad Saeed – India’s Most Wanted Man Free Again in Pakistan" by Mukhtar A. Khan; and "Niger Delta Militants Mount First Ever Raid on Lagos Oil Facilities" by Andrew McGregor.

For Full Text of the issue (PDF file), Read Here.