Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

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Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (Alternatively Spelled: Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh) or JMB is a Bangladeshi Islamist organization banned by Bangladesh government in 2005. It was formed in 1998 in Palampur in Dhaka division of Bangladesh, though the exact date of its formation is not known. [1] It became prominent on 20 May 20021 when eight of its members were arrested in Parbatipur in Dinajpur district along with 25 petrol bombs and documents detailing the activities of the organization.[2]

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[edit] Ideology

The JMB aims at propagating Shari'a or the Islamic law, thus establishing an Islamic state in Bangladesh. It is opposed to democracy as a form of governance.[3] The group declared the following in its leaflets written in Bengali and Arabic which were found at various bombing sites of 17 August 2005:

"We are the soldiers of Allah. We have taken up arms for the implementation of Allah's law the way the Prophet, Sahabis and heroic Mujahideen have implemented for centuries. If the government does not establish Islamic law in the country after this [third] warning and, rather, it goes to arrest any Muslim on charge of seeking Allah's laws or it resorts to repression on Alem-Ulema, the Jamaatul Mujahideen [JMB] will go for counteraction, Insha Allah."[4]

It favours violent methods in its attempt to implement such laws and government. They have claimed responsibility for several violent attacks and bombing.[2] JMB's communiqués reveal a Salafist doctrine that is common across international radical Islamist organizations.[5] one of their hand written leaflets recovered from a bombing site says:

"We don't want Taguti [non-Islamic] law, let Qur’anic law be introduced. Law framed by humans cannot continue and only the laws of Allah will prevail."[6]

[edit] Network

The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh (AHAB), Ahle Hadith Jubo Shangha, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network.[7]

It is believed that JMJB was formed as JMB but publicly started calling itself as the JMJB after a gunfight between its cadres and the police at a secret training camp in Khetlal village of Joypurhat district on 15 August 2003.[8]

JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have confirmed funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based RIHS and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia.[9]

Some of the RIHS offices were blacklisted in 2002 by the US State Department because of links with al-Qaeda. Following the blasts in August, the Bangladesh government deported 5 RIHS foreign officials.[10] Al-Haramaine was banned by the US in 2004 and its branches in Albania, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Netherlands were added by the UN Security Council to the Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee on 6 July 2004.[11]

[edit] Activities

It is believed to have been involved in an explosion of seven bombs on February 13, 2003 at one of its hideouts, having been preparing to explode them in northern Bangladeshi towns during International Mother Language Day. In August 17, 2005, the group launched more than 300 small bomb attacks simultaneously in 50 cities and towns across Bangladesh, including in the capital Dhaka.[12]

On 12 January 2005, bomb blasts at two separate cultural events in Sherpur and Jamalpur districts injured 25 and 10 respectively.[13] Bomb blasts on 15 January 2005 at Jatra performances at Bogra and Natore killed two and injured over 70 people.[14]

Newspaper reports suggest that taxes have been levied on villagers by the JMJB and women have been ordered to wear hijabs. Those who defy are subjected to physical abuse or their property is damaged. JMB and JMJB have already terrorised people in western and southwestern Bangladesh. Both organizations identify anti-social elements as per their own definition and mete out vigilante justice. In most cases, they kill their victims in gruesome ways and often mutilate their bodies.[5]

The group has also threatened numerous journalists, with more than 55 receiving death threats between September and December 2005.[15] In addition, several captured members of the group have claimed that their targets include traditional Bangladeshi cultural and non-government organizations such as BRAC, Proshika, and Grameen Bank.

[edit] Sphere of Influence

Main areas of JMB operations were:[16]

[edit] Leaders

Since its foundation until their capture by RAB security authorities, the group had been led by Maulana Abdur Rahman, a.k.a. Siddiqul Islam a.k.a. Bangla Bhai, Shaykh Abdur Rahman and Dr. Mohammad Asadullah al-Galib.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Terrorism: A Tragic Tale of Continued Denials, New Age, 27 September 2005
  2. ^ a b Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), from South Asia Terrorism Portal
  3. ^ Anand Giridharadas, Bangladesh Tipping Point is Feared, International Herald Tribune, 19 August 2005
  4. ^ Leaflets Ridicule Democracy, The Daily Star, 18 August 2005
  5. ^ a b Maneeza Hossain & Jonathan L Snow, Backgrounder: The Rise of Radical Islam in Bangladesh
  6. ^ JMB Suicide Bomber Kills 2 Judges, The Daily Star, 15 November 2005
  7. ^ Anwar Ali, Jama’atul Tentacles Spread in Five and Half Years, The Daily Star, 19 August 2005
  8. ^ Hiranmay Karlekar, Bangladesh: The Next Afghanistan?, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2005 (p. 181)
  9. ^ Zayadul Ahsan, Foreign Funding, Local business Keep them Going, The Daily Star, 22 August 2005
  10. ^ Government hostile towards us: RIHS, New Age, 23 September 2005
  11. ^ Security Council Committee Adds Two Individuals, Five Entities to AL-Qaida Section of Consolidated List
  12. ^ String of Bomb Blasts Rock Bangladesh, The Bangladesh Observer, 18 August 2005
  13. ^ 35 Hurt in Jamalpur and Sherpur Blasts, New Age, 13 January 2005.
  14. ^ 2 Killed, 60 Hurt in Bomb Attacks on Jatra Shows, The Daily Star, 16 January 2005
  15. ^ Reporters sans Frontiers A wave of Islamist terror sweeps over Bangladeshi press at year’s end
  16. ^ Julfikar A Manik, Bangla Bhai active for 6 yrs, The Daily Star, 13 May 2005

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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