Some developments since the installation of the interim Government provides cause for concern

Several developments in Bangladesh since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina raise the question: Is that country set to become a fundamentalist Islamist state and a cradle and exporter of Islamist terrorism? As of now, none of what the students who led the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement (ADSM) have said indicates that they support fundamentalist Islam or terrorism. It is, however, not clear what they stand for. A report in the Dhaka Tribune (datelined August 16, 2024) quoted Nahid Islam, one of the coordinators of the ADSM and an advisor in the interim government, as saying, "The spirit of the movement was to create a new Bangladesh, one where no fascist or autocrat can return." The same reported quoted him as saying that structural reforms were needed to achieve this aim, and that would require time.

One does not know what structural reforms they have in mind and the policies they intend to pursue. The Tribune report in question quotes Tahmid Chowdhury, another student leader, as saying that they were still working out their programme, which would be rooted in secularism and free speech.

Reuters reported on August 16, 2024, that the students were contemplating forming their own party to carry their movement forward and bring a closure on the history of the last three decades when Bangladesh was governed either by the Awami League or the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Not much has been heard about the matter since then.

The question is whether the overwhelming majority of them share their leader's views. One needs to ask this as fundamentalist Islamist and terrorist organisations have been increasingly spreading their tentacles inside Bangladesh's colleges and universities. Consider the case of North South University (NSU), one of that country's best-known private universities. Professor Gias Uddin Ahsan, Dean of the School of Health and Life Sciences, and acting Pro-Vice Chancellor, was arrested on July 16, 2016, along with two of his associates, for renting out his flat, and not informing the police about the fact of its being rented out and details of the tenants-which he was required to do. The flat was subsequently used by the perpetrators of the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in Dhaka on July 1, 2016. The University has suspended Professor Ahsan after his arrest. Earlier, it had dismissed four teachers for their links with the terrorist outfit, Hizb-ut Tahrir.

Nibras Islam, one of the six identified as those attacking the Holey Artisan Bakery and killed by the police in the encounter that followed, was one of its students. Abir Rahman, one of those who attacked a police post guarding Bangladesh's largest eid prayer congregation at Sholakia in Kishoreganj on July 7, 2016, and was killed, was a student of NSU. The attack, which was repelled, led to three deaths.  Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, who, in 2012, was convicted on the charge of attempting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and of coming to the United States for waging jihad, had also been a student of NSU. Besides, all the young men-Sadman Yasir Mamun, Faisal Bin Nayeem Dwip, Ehsan Reza Rumman, Maksudul Hasan Anik, Nayeem Irad and Nafiz Imtiaz- arrested for killing the blogger and Ganajagaran Mancha activist, Ahmed Rajib Haidar, in 2013. were its students.

There has been large-scale irregular inundation of educational institutions by fundamentalist elements. A report by Ekramul Huq Bulbul and Masud Milad in the Bengali daily Prathom Alo of August 12, 2004. States, "The allegation has been levelled of the jama'atification of the Chittagong University by violating all rules. Most applicants were not appointed as teachers despite getting four first classes in their educational life. Yet there has been the unprecedented occurrence of appointment of the supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami, a partner in the present four-party coalition government headed by Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) despite their being without a single first class." The report further stated that investigations by Prathom Also revealed that of the 122 teachers appointed during this period, 57 had been appointed by ignoring the recommendations of the Departmental Planning Committee and the number of posts advertised.

Whether all this has caused a significant section of students to be influenced by militant fundamentalist Islam need to be seen, given the continued operations of terrorist organisations. A number of Bangladeshis had fought the Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan. The Soviet Union's defeat at the hands of the Mujaheedin and withdrawal from the country in February, 1989, had boosted their morale as also that of militant Islamists the world over.  Osama bin-Laden, who had been involved in the jihad and who harboured the vision of establishing sharia rule worldwide, helped the establishment of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HUJIB) in 1992. The formation of Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), followed.

Pressure from the United States and other Western countries following the large-scale violence unleashed by these organisations, compelled the Khaleda Zia government to act against them. More resolute action followed the ascent to power of the second Awami League-led government, with Sheikh Hasina as prime minister, in 2009. Nine Islamist terrorist groups were banned during her prime ministership. These included the JMB, Shahadat-e al-Hikma, Hizb ut-Tahrir, HuJI-B, Ansarullah Bangla Team and the last-named's subsequent reincarnation, Ansar al-Islam. The list also included Jamaat Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya formed in 2018. Another seven Islamic extremist groups were blacklisted during her regime. These were Ulama Anjuman E Al Bayyinat, Neo-JMB, Dawlatul Islam Bangladesh, Hezbut Tawheed, At-Tamkin, Tamiruddin-Bangladesh and Towhidi Trust.

 Particularly active among these was the Ansar al-Islam, which played a major role in the murder of the bloggers, which began with the killing of Ahmed Rajib Haider in Dhaka on February 15, 2013 and continued until 2015. The Neo-JMB, however, is believed to have been behind the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery which killed 23 persons, including three Bangladeshis, seven Japanese, nine Italians and one Indian.

The tough measures that followed, had kept Islamist terrorism more and less under control. Following Sheikh Hasina's ouster, the Hizb-ut Tahrir (Hijb-ut) has been staging processions in different parts of Bangladesh and putting up posters articulating its ideology. On August 9, 2024, it held a rally in Dhaka demanding the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in Bangladesh. Also, the statues of two police officers who died fighting the terrorists at the Holey Artisan Bakery, have been destroyed and a Hijb-ut Tahrir poster has been found at the site. On its part, the interim government has released Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, now Ansar al-Islam. Neither all this nor the very cordial meeting Muhammad Yunus has had with leaders of the Jama'at and Hefazat-e-Islam, of course, indicates that the interim government supports Islamist militancy. Nevertheless, skating on thin ice is better avoided.

(The author is Consulting Editor, The Pioneer. The views are personal)