How Bangladesh's turmoil is fueling a terror threat on India's border

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was once a dangerous terror outfit operating out of Bangladesh, threatening India’s national interests. However, since the past eight years, it had gone down considerably, and there were no signs of any activity from this proscribed terror group.

With Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, many radical groups have run amok, and this has led to the revival of several terror groups, including the JMB.

The Indian Intelligence agencies have warned that the JMB is being revived in a big way, and this poses a direct risk to states in the northeast and West Bengal.

The revival of the JMB is dangerous because it uses a large number of refugees and those who infiltrate illegally as its foot soldiers. This means that the group, as per the wishes of the ISI and Jamaat-e-Islami, is currently indulging in aiding a large number of illegal infiltrations.

Further, the JMB is also seeking the support of Al-Qaeda as part of its revival plan. Al-Qaeda is important as it has a wider reach and can spread its ideology more quickly. The JMB, on the other hand, is focused largely on the ground operations.

After Muhammad Yunus was made the caretaker of the interim government in Bangladesh, the Jamaat, at the insistence of the ISI, called the shots. Since then, several ISI officials have visited Bangladesh and spoken with the leaders of these groups. The ISI wants the terror groups to act as one and not become counterproductive to each other.

For instance, it wants the JMB to focus solely on India with the help of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is more than happy to work with these groups, as they were the ones behind the 2002 Church bombings in Gopalganj and the 2004 attack on the UK and US embassies.

Now, coming specifically to their plans for India, the JMB is building a strong group of foot soldiers. It is recruiting by the dozens from camps that house illegal immigrants and Rohingya Muslims, both from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

With Myanmar too troubled, the JMB would have no problem in roping in those who are fleeing the nation. Once they are pushed into India, the JMB has instructed them to take up small work in areas which are dominated by Muslims from Bengal. This would avoid any suspicion.

Further, they have also been told not to mingle with the local public and to go about their work in small industries. However, there would be frequent meetings to discuss plans and how to go about them. These meetings would be held in various places and would comprise smaller groups to avoid detection.

The JMB is not new in India. The Burdwan blast that took place in 2014 was the handiwork of the JMB. At that time, investigations pointed out how the outfit works. Most of them found in the bomb making factory were illegal immigrants. Hence, a similar textbook would be in play this time as well, the Intelligence assessment says.

Today, the JMB is taking advantage of the porous India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam. Since the border is vulnerable and due to the worsening situation in Bangladesh, it becomes easier for the JMB to infiltrate its cadres.

For India to tide over this problem, it would need cooperation from the Bangladesh government, just like the way Sheikh Hasina did when she was in power. However, this time around, the situation is different, and the Yunus regime tilts more towards Pakistan, and relations with India have remained cold.

--IANS

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