Monday, Jan 31, 2005
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By Haroon Habib
DHAKA, JAN. 30. The Bangladesh Government has dismissed as "unfortunate and politically motivated" a report titled, "The Next Islamic Revolution", in the New York Times magazine on the country's growing Islamic militancy. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The report does not reflect the real picture of Bangladesh." The magazine said in its January 23 issue that 10,000 Islamists had regrouped in northern Bangladesh under the banner of Jagrata Muslim Janata for a Taliban-type revolution under the leadership of a self-styled commander named "Bangla Bhai", who was reportedly trained in Afghanistan.
"Official patronage"
The report also said the BNP-led alliance Government headed by the Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, was patronising various groups operating in the country. "There is no scope for an Islamist revolution here," said the spokesman, as local media reproduced the magazine report, putting the blame for the situation largely on the Government, which includes two fundamentalist partiers. About the rise of Bangla Bhai, the self-proclaimed commander of Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB), the Ministry spokesman claimed that the Government was determined to tackle the situation and the police had arrested 66 persons believed to be Bangla Bhai's followers. The Opposition Leader in Parliament, Sheikh Hasina, however, accused the Government of "letting loose communal extremist forces" to eliminate secular forces. "The country is witnessing the rise of extreme communal outfits one after another as the Government was formed with the elements that had opposed the war of independence," she said in a press statement. Ms. Hasina alleged that the Islamist outfit had become stronger because of Government patronage. She alleged that Bangla Bhai had contact with Ministers and had held a secret meeting with the Rajshahi police superintendent.
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