On November 24, 2022, Bangladesh and the representatives from the European Union (EU) had their first “political discussion” aimed at elevating the existing collaboration through providing strategic direction and further deepening the cooperation on foreign and security policy. While for Bangladesh, repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar was one of the priorities, for both Bangladesh and the European Union, one of the most crucial issues was effectively combating threats posed by radical Islamic militancy outfits. In the recent times although Bangladesh has achieved tremendous success in containing activities of militancy groups such as Ansar Al Islam, a local franchise of Al Qaeda with the praiseworthy role played by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) – two specialized units of Bangladesh Police, few recent incidents prove – radical Islamic militancy outfits are trying to regroup and regain strength with the direct or indirect collaboration of country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Islamist political parties as well as Hefazat-e-Islam, a platform of madrassa teachers and students. It may be mentioned here that, while BNP publicly proclaims to be upholding democracy, its intimacy with Hefazat-e-Islam, which openly demands establishment of Caliphate in the country should be a matter of scrutiny.
Although Bangladesh Nationalist Party was established by military dictator General Ziaur Rahman, following his demise, under the leadership of his wife Khaleda Zia, BNP certainly has played important role in re-establishment of democracy in Bangladesh. But unfortunately, since 2001 when Bangladesh Nationalist Party formed alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist parties, it had shifted from being pro-democracy to pro-sharia rule party. During its 2001-2006 tenure, BNP had extended support to militancy outfits such as Harkatul Jihad (HuJI), Jagrata Muslim Janata (later renamed as Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh), Khatmey Nabuwat Andolan etcetera with the ulterior agenda of enhancing its Muslim vote bank. It may be mentioned here that, Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) rebranded itself as Ansar Al Islam after becoming local franchise of Ansar Al Islam, which had direct role behind murders of secularist writers and bloggers in Bangladesh.
In late December 2021, counterterrorism agencies in Bangladesh warned about the possible resurgence of Ansar Al Islam (AAI), which also functions as an official wing of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and staunchly supports the Afghan Taliban’s Islamic Emirate.
According to these agencies, AAI has been recruiting and training in the hinterlands of Bangladesh. Despite relentless counter-terrorism operations targeting AAI’s hideouts and the detention of its cadres for the past several years, the group has remained resilient.
Bangladesh Police estimate that nearly 40 militants affiliated with AAI have been arrested during 58 anti-terror operations across the country in 2021 alone.
AAI has also been secretly recruiting from among Rohingya refugees and women, who support activities such as gathering intelligence and couriering.
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies also have claimed that the group devised a plan to attack “soft targets” that include anti-Islamic and secular writers, as well as intellectuals. Their plan includes “hard targets” comprising foreign embassies, in addition to entities and individuals promoting Hindutva ideology in the country. Given that AAI is now scaling up its online recruitment campaign, security agencies will inevitably be examining these tactics as well.
As part of its plan to expand influence over Muslim vote bank, Bangladesh Nationalist Party has been deepening relations with militancy outfits such as AAI as well as madrassa-based pro-Caliphate group Hefazat-e-Islam. In my opinion, BNP has already been shifting from being a moderate political party to Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Meaning, ideologically BNP is now inclined towards anti-West bloc with further deepened relationship with Iran and cordiality with Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah and other militancy groups. It was earlier reported in the media that BNP’s current acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who is living on self-exile in the United Kingdom since 2007 is having involvement in Taliban’s narco-trade through infamous mafia Dawood Ibrahim.
Bangladesh is scheduled to hold the next general election in January 2023 where BNP is one of the main participants as key rival to ruling Awami League, a secularist political party. At this junction, the first-ever political discussion between Bangladesh and the European Union was extremely important.
