Grim's Hall

Bangladeshi Rumors:

Bill Roggio has links to a potentially huge story out of India and Bangladesh.

Bill mentions that Bangladesh has two Islamist ministers in the government; the more important of these is Industries Minister Nizami, who is also the head ("emir") of the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami. Nizami isn't just an Islamist; he's been accused of being the real mastermind behind the bombing campaigns that have wracked Bangladesh through the autumn and winter.

The claim has been made by captured sympathizers of the JMB terrorist group, but more emphatically by the opposition political parties. The main opposition group is a collection of leftist/socialist groups called the Awami League. The AL has refused to participate in government anti-terrorist efforts, and has instead maintained that the government (and J-e-I in particular) is behind the terror.

Meanwhile, J-e-I and Nizami have maintained that really, it is Indian and Israeli intelligence behind the terrorist campaign. Increasingly, Nizami has posited that the AL must be an additional partner, given their refusal to participate in government anti-terror efforts and their constant criticism of those efforts. (No one seems interested in the possibility that Islamists are "really" behind the campaign to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh through terrorism -- it's not a useful possibility for their real political game of gaining or holding control of the country's government.)

The capture of the leader of JMB in India will feed J-e-I's claim that he was partnered with Indian/Israeli intelligence. If he says anything in captivity that can be construed as blame for Nizami, the AL will feed on that. Both groups, the Islamists and the leftists, have the capability of fielding massive protests through the country -- and, in the case of the leftists, of making use of general strikes among unionized labor.

The capture of this terrorist, if it proves out, could be the beginning of complete chaos in Bangladesh. It would be an irony if it was the capture of JMB's leader that put an end to the fledgling democracy in Bangladesh, given that doing so was JMB's great desire all along.