Begum Zia may try to project the arrests as her govt's success against terrorism. But it is necessary to go deeper to understand the larger picture.
Bangladesh is paying lip service to fighting terrorism ahead of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s visit to India next week, arresting two Islamist leaders it earlier allowed to operate with impunity.
In quick succession last week, Bangladesh’s crack anti-crime force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), arrested Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. Both were the most wanted terrorists in the country and carried a reward of taka five million ($72,000) each.
Both men had fomented trouble at home and in the borders districts of India. Begum Zia may try to project their arrests as her government's success against terrorism. But it is necessary to go deeper to understand the larger picture.
The timing of the arrests is significant. The West is putting pressure on the Bangladesh government to curb rising Islamist fundamentalism. The US has been coming down heavily. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca in January and Congressman Joseph Crowley in February visited Bangladesh and conveyed their concerns to Dhaka.
US President George W Bush, during his visit to India and Pakistan, avoided travelling to Bangladesh. He clearly enunciated his ideas on combating terrorism. He was stern vis-a-vis Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf too. These are clear signals that none in South Asia can miss.
For Begum Zia, a crackdown on terrorists is an annual exercise every February-March since that is the time the European Union and the World Bank meet to consider aid to Bangladesh. Each time they threaten to withhold aid unless Dhaka takes stringent action against militants. In February 2005 they were also angry because those who tried to assassinate former prime minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasinathe went unpunished.
Sheikh Abdur Rahman, chief of the outlawed Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), surrendered to the RAB March 2 in Sylhet after a 33-hour standoff. Bangla Bhai, who heads the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and is also deputy head of the JMB, was arrested in Mymensingh district March 6 after a fierce fight. He was seriously injured.
Why has the Four-Party Alliance (FPA) led by Begum Zia's Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and strengthened by the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeI-BD), which patronized the Islamist terrorist groups till now, taken these drastic measures?
The obvious idea was to divert national and international attention from the real issue — the breeding of terrorism within Bangladesh.
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