Some of the recent developments portray a grim picture of scenario of extremism in South Asia. The announcement of a minister in Bangladesh that one of the bank’s eight percent profit goes to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami(HUJI), and arrest of Bangladeshi expatriate Rajib Karim in the UK, arrest of one Bangladeshi national near Asia’s largest Giant Metrewave Radio Telescopenear the Pune city of India, and the killing of the sole minority Minister in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti due to his liberal views have further protracted the extremism scenario in the region, with obvious links to other parts of the globe. It also pointed out that despite the proclaimed intentions of the governments of the countries in the region, the extremist elements have furthered their strengths and increased their links.
The Daily Star published from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, published an article on 3rd March of this month, which referred to the state minister of home in the Sheikh Hasina government that eight of percent profit from Islami Bank Bangladesh goes towards funding militant activities in the country through Islami Bank Foundation. The statement by the serving minister might have been evoked a strong reaction from various agencies including the bank itself which denied any such link, but the fact remains that the Minister’s statement must have some veracity behind it as the minister did not withdraw his statement. The increasing militant activities in Bangladesh have become a matter of concern for the Hasina government. The entrenchment of Al Qaeda elements, more so in recent years, has made the scenario murkier. The leader of Jamaat ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh(JMB), currently in custody, has admitted the links between his organization and Al Qaeda. Reportedly, many of the leaders of the extremist organizations such as JMB and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) in Bangladesh are Afghan veterans.
The fact remains in the recent past the extremist organizations have emerged powerful. Though the Sheikh Hasina government, in contrast to the previous government of Khalida Zia, has pronounced its strong resentment and promised action against the radical elements in the country, these organizations particularly HUJI in the past decade have widened its network far wider from its original camps in the hill tracts of Chittagong, Cox Bazar and Banderban. The extremism in India in the form of Indian Mujahideen has developed close links with HUJI, and the bomb blasts in India in 2008, particularly at Hyderabad, indicated the clear HUJI connection. Hence, the growing financial muscle and its growing membership across the world is a matter of serious concern. There are also reports that the extremist groups in Bangladesh supported the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), provided them shelter and arms.
It may not be illogical that the recent arrest of the Bangladeshi national, Rajib Karim, is totally devoid of extremist links in Bangladesh. Reportedly he had links with JMB and worked with the media department of the extremist organization. Rajib, a Bangladeshi national, after completing his schooling in Dhaka went to the UK and studied electronics at Manchester University from 1998 to 2002, and later got a job at British Airways. Rajib, and his brother, shuttled between Bangladesh and the UK, and gradually they turned to extremist elements. Both had the occasion to go to Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, where the US-born noted extremist Anwar al-Awlaqiis staying. Awlaqi and Rajib remained in contact through emails, when Rajib returned back, and Maliki found in him a suitable candidate to conduct terrorist activities. The 12 February 2011 email of Awlaqi to Rajib enquired whether it is possible “to get a package or a person with a package on board a flight heading to the US…did any of the brs [brothers] you mentioned get training on x-ray machines or understand their limitations?”,” to which Rajib replied three days later on 15 February 2011 that “I can work with the bros to find out the possibilities of shipping a package to a US bound plane.” Rajib was arrested on 25 February at his desk at New Castle. The police took nine months (since the suspicion over his activities) to encrypt the codes through which he contacted. Besides the email messages, the police claimed to have recovered extremist documents, etc. On the external hard drive of his computer was found a book called “Chemistry of Explosives,” providing instructions about producing detonators, fuses, gun powder and petrol bombs.
The Indian police arrested Milon Niranjan Mistry from the Narayangaon area near Pune on 14 February 2011. Mistry is found to have terror links in other countries. He was in occupation of fake Indian PAN (permanent account number) card, etc. There are suspicions that the Mistry was motivated to damage the Radiowave metre in the region. Last year the Pune police had arrested members of the recently emerging Indian Mujahideen from Pune city. And also the German Bakery bomb blast that took place last year in Pune and killed eight people including foreign nationals indicated that the link of Indian Mujahideen crossed beyond Indian boundaries. Though the police have not yet come out with any authentic information as to why Mistry was arrested, but his complicity and fake documents indicate that Mistry, who disguised as a labourer, was not a mere labourer in search of bread but with some ulterior motives.
The spectre of extremism in South Asia has appeared to have grown beyond leaps and bounds in recent months. Though in one of his recent articles in The Washington Post Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari reiterated his government’s policies to uphold liberal views, it appears the space for liberals in Pakistan is shrinking. This year so far two prominent leaders, the serving governor of Punjab Salman Taseer, and the sole Christian minister of minority affairs in the council of ministers, Shahbaz Bhatti were killed by extremist elements. Both the leaders upheld the liberal views and opposed extreme laws like the Blasphemy Law. Bhatti had played a major role in promoting interfaith harmony.The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan openly threatens any member of civil society who voices against their activities. The organization in December 2007 killed one of the noted leaders of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, and this year they killed another two liberal leaders. This gives the indication that the tussle between liberalism and extremism is perhaps tilting in favour of extremism.
The whole of South Asia was at one point of time, before the onset of extremism and its twin terrorism, had an atmosphere in which existed shared culture and traditions despite erection of new borders. A keen observation of the Indian subcontinent will make it clear how despite myriad diversities there are many things in common among the people. To give a simple example, the name Rajib can be that of a Hindu or a Muslim. Similarly, one can find that the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written by one person, Rabindranath Tagore. Or one can find one of the famous national songs of India was written by Mohammad Iqbal, the famous Pakistani philosopher and poet. The extremist elements in the region target this syncretic culture of the South Asia as they emphasize on exclusivity while denigrating other viewpoints. And that is a matter of major concern.
