While various reports and studies pointed out
that political gaming with the Islamist elements by two major political
parties since the liberation war provided avenues for the rise of Islamic
political groups and Islamic extremism and militancy in the structure which
subsequently facilitated the uncontrolled growth of Islamist terrorist
outfits and militant groups. The study revealed that JMB, JMJB, HUJI-B and
HT are the major terrorist groups which generated thousands of members,
and who have continued their activities under different names in
different times. Each of these groups has several thousand activists in
the country. Though the exact number of groups or outfits cannot be
explored the number ranges from 12 to more than 50. Data show that the top
leaders and founders of these militant groups were educated in madrasha (Islamic
seminary institution), and later some of them joined teaching in madarsha at
point of their career. Some of them were also Afghan War veteran, and
travelled to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other Gulf countries.
Most of these Islamist militant groups have symbiotic relationships among
themselves and with foreign outfits based in Pakistan, India and some
other countries.
ISLAMIST MILITANCY AND TERRORISM IN BANGLADESH:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BY DHAKA INSTITUTE OF
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
(ICA BANGLADESH)
The main purpose of this study is to document
and highlight the problem of Islamist militancy and terrorism in
Bangladesh. It examined the nature of various Islamist militant groups and
the extent of their terrorist activities in Bangladesh. This study also
investigated the underlying causes of militancy, the funding sources of
militant groups, and the strategies and techniques used by terrorist
groups. Recommendations are made on how best to address the menace of
militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh. The study mainly used content analysis
of secondary sources and expert interviews. ICA Bangladesh conducted
Understanding religious militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh with a financial
grant of the Social Science Research Council, Planning Ministry of the
Government of Bangladesh. While religious militancy and terrorism have
become a serious socio-political concern of Bangladesh for a long time, it
is still one of the most debatable and under researched issues. The study
revealed that Islamist extremism and militant activities rose from 1999 to
2005.
However, homegrown and internationally linked Islamist
terrorist outfits and groups have continued to emerge in Bangladesh since 1992.
International pressures from some western countries, donors and
neighboring countries and the international media heavily influenced the
Bangladesh government to fight Islamist militancy and terrorism especially
aftermath the 9/11 US attacks and the subsequent global war on terror
campaign. By this time, Bangladesh has signed most of the UN
anti-terrorism conventions and enacted a number of laws to address the menace
of terrorism. Since 2006, Bangladesh has not faced any devastating
terrorist attacks with bombing or grenade attacks due to different
measures by different governments such as the BNP government`s banning of some
outlawed Islamist militant groups and prosecution of militants; the
caretaker government’s enactment and implementation of anti-terrorism and
anti-terrorist financing laws; and the present Awami League government`s
serious counter-terrorism measures ranging from banning outfits, arresting
and prosecuting militants, updating laws, and initiating other local
terrorism prevention steps and regional policies.
These groups also have mutual support and cooperation from
non-religious insurgent groups within and outside the country such as
ethnic militant groups in CHTs, Rohinga refugee in Cox`s Bazar, and the
Indian North East ethnic insurgent groups including ULFA. The study found
both positive and negative role of madrassa in facilitating the rise of militancy.
However, it is found that poor, unemployed and disadvantaged youth educated in
both general and madrassa lines and low educated and illiterate people
from economically disadvantaged districts are more likely to be
brainwashed to join these militant groups. Evidences suggest that politicians,
teachers, community leaders, and peers are the mentors or patrons of
militancy in Bangladesh. Despite having various anti-militancy and
counter-terrorism measures by the governments, recent media and
intelligence sources indicate that several militant outfits and their
members are being reorganized to publicly continue to do their
activities. 
The study identified a number of funding
sources, mostly from local areas generated through collecting
zakat/sadka/fitra (donation on different religious occasions), donation in
the name of Islamic dawaat (invitation) for speech or lecture, educational
or orphanage institutions, and from local businesses. External funding
came through Islamic charitable NGOs from Gulf countries, USA, UK and
other countries and through hundi (illegal money exchange) from individuals
living abroad. The militants are also found engaged in money laundering
and organized crime such as illegal underground business. The study also
found that members of these militant groups are trained in military
tactics to use automatic weapons, guns and grenades, IED (improved
explosive device) and in making explosives such as powerful bombs, etc.
They also use high-tech information technology (IT) communication tools
such as computer, telephone, internet, compact disks (CDs) to propagate,
disseminate or for terrorist attacks. Bangladesh has been facing
leftwing, ethnic and religious militancy since its independence in 1971.
However, the Islamist Militancy and terrorism has vandalized the lives of the
people and endangered law and order, and national, regional and international
security, and handicapped economic development. Therefore, we must
eliminate the root causes of militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh. In
addressing these risk factors, a comprehensive and integrated terrorism
prevention strategy needs to be imparted, which is essential for a
sustainable democracy and socio-economic wellbeing in Bangladesh.
Therefore, political parties and civil society should work together to
combat terrorism. The study concludes that the confrontational political
culture, the culture of immunity and lack of appropriate policies are the major
obstacles to control the Islamist militancy in Bangladesh. Otherwise, the
problem of militancy will go beyond control threatening the national
sovereignty.
CHAPTER I:
INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY
1.1. Study problem
Terrorism is one of the extreme forms of crime,
since it involves serious violence against civilians. The terrorist
activities by the religious militant groups became a security challenge across
the globe especially in the post 9/11 era. Since the mid-1990, terrorism has
become a hot topic for research because of national and transnational
security concerns and the international war on terrorism. Research on
terrorism focused on the issues of religious militancy, organized crime,
and financial crime. In modern times, militants and terrorists are synonymously
used. As terrorism is a complicated multifaceted form of crime, this
discipline or sub-discipline is based on the paucity of well-researched
data and scientific literature. 
Militancy and terrorism are not new to either
Bangladesh or other South Asian countries such as Pakistan, India, Bhutan,
Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Various religious, ethno-national and political
rebel outfits, militant groups or insurgent groups have been operating in these
countries and many of these groups are interlinked as well (Riaz, 2008;
Quamruzzaman, 2010; Datta, 2007; BIPSS, 2010). Despite terrorism being a
subject of considerable public debate for a long time, counterterrorism
strategies has become the major governmental priority in these countries to
combat terrorism for national, regional and international interests. Since
1999, Bangladesh has witnessed the rise of militant groups and terrorist
outfits both homegrown and internationally linked including al-Qaeda.
Evidences suggest that terrorist attacks have increased from 1999 to 2006.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh has not faced any major attacks since 2007 due
to governmental bold steps against militancy and terrorism, research and
experts suggest that to eliminate the roots of the menace of terrorism and
militancy from Bangladesh society, integrated and comprehensive terrorism
prevention strategies must be formulated based on various socioeconomic,
political and cultural factors. Some experts argued that despite some
significant steps by the government, since independence ethnic and
leftwing insurgency and militancy continued in Bangladesh.
Islamist radicalization, extremism and
militancy have gained accelerated currency in Bangladesh politics in
recent years (BIPSS, 2010; Riaz, 2008; Quamruzzaman, 2010; Datta, 2007).
The mass-media, academics, researchers, politicians and the government have not
seriously brought the menace of Islamist militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh
before 2000s, but aftermath the country-wide showdown of force and
strength by two Islamist militant organizations – the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) in 2005
(Riaz, 2008). International media, intelligence agencies, donors and foreign
governments have pointed to the rise of Islamist terrorist in the country since
the US attacks in 2001 (Quamruzzaman, 2011). Some researchers and experts
do not think Bangladesh is a safe haven for international terrorism, while
other scholars ague that religious militancy is homegrown due to various
socioeconomic and historical factors and cannot be generalized the menace
in terms of international context and forms of terrorism. Bangladesh is
the 7th populous country and 3rd largest Muslim country located in South Asia.It
has a reputation for being a moderate Muslim country. In general people of this
country are peace loving and God believers. International concerns over
Bangladesh as a hub of terrorists have begun since the US declared global
war on terrorism after the 9/11 event. Various reports by local and
international media and intelligence sources claimed that Bangladesh has
been facing the rise of Islamist militancy, Italianization by Islamist
militants, becoming another Afghanistan, becoming a regional terrorist hub
linked with al-Qaeda or pro-bin Laden Jihadi terrorism (Harrison, 2006;
Vaughn, 2007; Rahman, 2004; Quamruzzaman, 2010; Institute for Defence Studies
and Analysis 2009; Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 2003. It is
found that the rise of religious militancy and terrorism are linked to
various factors, such as domestic, regional and international (Riaz,
2008); historical-political (Quamruzzaman, 2011); madrassa, political
patronage (Datta, 2007); and political, economic and cultural factors (Momen,
& Begum, 2005).
The growing number of Islamist militants,
networks and their activities along with the Incidents of terrorist
attacks since 1999 indicate that Bangladesh is very vulnerable to
terrorism in the name of Islam. The Bangladeshi governments have already
shifted their position from denying the presence of Islamist militant
groups and their international links to the war against terror to
accepting the menace of militancy. The current Bangladesh Awami League
(AL) government in their earlier regime (1996-2000) failed to take action
against Islamist militancy and terrorism, but the present AL government
(2009 onwards) has adopted the zero-tolerance strategy. During the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance government, religious extremism
and militant activities have risen as they initially denied its existence. But
in the midst of several terrorist incidents by a number of terrorist
outfits and militants like Bangla Bhai across the country finally they took
measures to fight Islamist militancy. There has been allegation that some
of the then ruling party (four party alliance government) lawmakers and
ministers used to maintain relationship with the terrorist group leaders.
At the same time, the party and the government and state administration
patronized some form of militant activities. In fact, the international
pressure from donors was a crucial factor in changing their position. A study
by Riaz (2008) pointed out that Islamist militancy is the result of both
errors of omission (the state, politicians and the civil society failed to
do things that could have stemmed the rise of militancy) and errors of
commission (the state, politicians, and the civil society did things that
worsened the situation). Terrorism is a complex term; it has a long
history and different meanings, depending on the context and the users.
Terrorism literature has been growing tremendously. But this field is too complex,
multi-faceted and multi-dimensional in terms of forms, causes, patterns,
consequences, organization, and networks. Therefore, no single study can
adequately explain religious militancy in Bangladesh. Necessary data and
appropriate subjects for studying such topic is always an issue. As a
result, there is hardly any rigorous scientific study on terrorism in Bangladesh.
Most of the studies on terrorism were descriptive in nature. Given these
limitations, the present study made efforts to explore the linkages
between Islamist militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh by looking at the
growth of numbers and outfits, the links with regional and international
groups, the sources of funding, the patterns, trends and causes of Islamist
militancy and terrorism as well as the government responses to address the
problem of terrorism. 
In response to the current terrorist threat,
the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have introduced a
global strategy by promoting democracy, dialogue and good governance to
tackle the root causes of radicalization.
1.2. Objectives of the study the main
objective of this study were to assess the extent and nature of religious
militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh. The specific objectives of the
study were:
To identify the different
Islamist militant and terrorist groups in Bangladesh
To understand the patterns of Islamist militant and their
terrorist activities in Bangladesh
To investigate the strategies and techniques of committing
militant and terrorist activities in Bangladesh
To determine the underlying causes of Islamist militant and
terrorist activities in Bangladesh to examine the anti-militant and
counter terrorism measures in Bangladesh
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