SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 24, December 16, 2013

BANGLADESH

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Executing the Butcher
S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

In the first-ever execution in a war crimes case on December 12, 2013, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Assistant Secretary Abdul Quader Mollah (65), who earned the nickname ‘Mirpurer Koshai (Butcher of Mirpur)’ was hanged at 10:01pm (local time) at Dhaka Central Jail against his conviction on charges relating to his sinister role during the Liberation Wars of 1971. The JeI leader was executed hours after the Supreme Court rejected his petition to review the death sentence, bringing an end to the drama that had played out for two days since the evening of December 10. Following a petition by his counsels, the Supreme Court stayed the execution of Quader Mollah on December 10, 2013, just one and a half hours before he was to be hanged. But two days after his hanging was dramatically put on hold, the Apex Court upheld the death sentence on December 12, 2013, rejecting his review plea and paving the way for his execution.

On February 5, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) sentenced Quader Mollah to life imprisonment. However, on September 17, 2013, the Supreme Court overruled the judgment and enhanced his sentence to the death penalty. Subsequently, on December 8, 2013, ICT-2 had issued a warrant of execution for Quader Mollah after receiving the Supreme Court verdict on December 5, 2013.

Right after the execution, Gonojagoron Mancha (People's Resurgence Platform) activists burst into cheers and celebrations in Dhaka city’s Shahbagh, the location of sustained protests demanding justice for the War Crimes. Gonojagoron Manhca spokesperson Imran H. Sarker declared, “The execution of Quader Mollah is a tribute to the country’s three million martyrs.”

Post and Telecommunication Minister Rashed Khan Menon, also the president of the Worker’s Party (WP) observed, “The execution procedure of Abdul Quader Mollah is a proof of the highest rule of law; the nation is now freed from its stigma through the execution of Quader Mollah.” Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu also noted that the execution of the war criminal was a major step in establishing rule of law in the country and cautioned that leaders and cadres of the JeI and its students' wing, the Islami Chatra Shiber (ICS) were likely to resort to violence in different areas.

Thus far, the International Crimes Tribunals (ICTs) conducting the War Crimes Trials that began on March 25, 2010, have indicted 15 leaders, including 12 JeI leaders and three Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders. Nine verdicts have already been delivered by the two ICTs, in which seven persons have been awarded the death sentence, while three have been given life imprisonment. 

Unsurprisingly, in a statement on December 12, 2013, JeI leader Makbul Ahmed announced, "People would take revenge on this killing by establishing Islam in Bangladesh, which is stained with the blood of Abdul Quader Mollah. I urge all the people who support the cause of the Islamic movement to show utmost patience to build a strong resistance."

As expected, street violence spearheaded by JeI-ICS cadres broke out on December 12, 2013, and nine persons were killed while another 120 were injured across 13 Districts. Again, on December 13, 2013, JeI-ICS cadres rampaged through the capital and another 23 Districts, leaving eight people dead and more than 100 vehicles as well as offices, factories and houses burnt across the country.

The people who made the delivery of justice possible remain under threat from JeI-ICs cadres. In Chapainawabganj District, the ancestral house of Justice A.T.M. Fazle Kabir, who leads ICT-1, was attacked on December 12, 2013. JeI-ICs cadres also hurled a petrol bomb at the ancestral house of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim of ICT-1 in Senbagh sub-District of Noakhali District on December 13, 2013. Both the judges reside in Dhaka. No casualties were reported in these two incidents.

The latest spike in violence backed by Islamist radicals is in continuity with the rising graph of violence in the country since the beginning of the current year. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a total of 314 persons, including 182 civilians, 118 JeI-ICS cadres and 14 Security Force (SF) personnel have been killed in street violence since January 21, 2013, when the first verdict in the War Crimes Trials had been delivered (all data till December 15, 2013). As many as 6,762 people have been injured in the violence involving JeI-ICS cadres over this period.

The Islamist radicals backed by the BNP-led 18-party Opposition Alliance, in addition to their resistance to the War Crimes Trials, have also hardened their position against the holding of the General Elections on  January 5, 2014.  The entire country has been under hartal (General Strike) since the declaration of the General Elections by the Election Commission on November 25, 2013. The hartals have been partially successful, with 32 of 64 Districts recording disruptive activities, such as shut downs, street violence, injury and killing. The worst of these was Sathkhira, where 14 fatalities have been recorded, followed by Chittagong with 11, and Dhaka city with 11. In addition, Khulna, Bhola, Feni and Jhenidah, have also recorded injuries to 50 or more persons in single incidents.

Also, leaders of the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA), a combine of the eight Left-leaning political parties, at a protest rally in Dhaka city on December 10, 2013, called on the Awami League (AL) to stop the process for holding a ‘unilateral’ election, as it would not be acceptable at home or abroad. 

Meanwhile, in a setback to AL, Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman H.M. Ershad, on December 3, 2013, declared, “The Jatiya Party will not contest the 10^th parliamentary election as all political parties have not yet submitted nomination papers for the polls.” Further, on December 6, 2013, via text, Ershad directed his party leaders in the poll-time Cabinet to submit their resignation letters to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 7. On December 8, 2013, all six Jatiya Party Ministers and an adviser to the Prime Minister sent their resignation letters to the Prime Minister by post. The PM, however, did not accept the resignations. On December 9, Ershad stated, “Now my secretary general is going to hand over the resignations to the Prime Minister in person. But we know, she will not accept it. Whatever, we are no more in the Government, and our Ministers are not going to take part in any meeting of the Cabinet. My party members have been ordered to withdraw their nominations by December 13.”

Quader Mollah's execution is a clear demonstration that Sheikh Hasina is going to take the head-to-head confrontation with the Islamist extremists and their allies down to the wire, as the elections approach. It is likely that other executions of the convicted War Criminals will follow, at once showing Prime Minister Hasina's determination to see the process through and to push forward her electoral trump card. It is useful to note, here, that the convictions of another five war crimes offenders – former JeI ameer (chief)  Ghulam Azam, JeI leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and its former leader Abdul Alim - are currently pending with the Appellate Division. While the Supreme Court is yet to fix any date for hearing their appeals, given the swiftness of response in the Mollah case, these processes could also come to a comparably abrupt end. The remaining two convicts - Al-Badr ‘operation-in-charge’ Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and ‘chief executor’ Ashrafuzzaman Khan were given death penalty on November 3, 2013 - are abroad. Mueen is in London and Khan in New York. Additional Attorney General and Chief Coordinator of the Prosecution, M.K. Rahman, has stated that the Government is trying to bring the fugitive war criminals back to the country in order to execute them, though this is far from likely in the foreseeable future.

Nevertheless, it is obvious to the Islamist radicals that the present confrontation is quickly transforming into an existential contest for them. These strident minority formations have long played a role in Bangladesh politics far out of proportion to their actual strength and support base as a result of their easy proclivity to street violence. With their top leaders now under sentences of death, and the cloak of impunity under which they have long operated lying in tatters, the Islamists can be expected to escalate their violence to the limits of their capabilities. Equally, Sheikh Hasina will recognize that, if she fails to destroy the power of the Islamist extremists and also loses control of the Government, her own survival, and that of all those who have supported the War Crimes Trial processes, will come under extreme threat.

Prime Minister Hasina had, on December 12, 2013, given an assurance that the coming national election in Bangladesh would be held in a free, fair, neutral and acceptable manner as per the country’s Constitution. With the War Crimes issue now coming to a head and the Opposition's unambiguous rejection of the electoral process, this is now increasingly unlikely.

INDIA

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Mizoram: Out of Sight
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

In the night of November 23, 2013, just ahead of the November 25 Mizoram Assembly Elections, at least three persons were abducted by the Tripura based National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) from the Damparengpui village near the abandoned Chikha Anti-Poaching Camp inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve in the Mamit District of Western Mizoram, adjoining the Bangladesh-Tripura border. A Police officer disclosed that the armed NLFT rebels abducted Deep Mondal, an official of a Delhi-based telecom company and resident of Kolkota (West Bengal); Sanglianthanga, a resident of Mamit District who was driving Mondal's vehicle; and the driver of another vehicle, identified as Lalzamliana. All the three worked for the telecom company.

On December 6, Mizoram Police officials stated that NLFT cadre, who abducted the trio, had demanded a ransom of INR 50 million for Mondal's release. A senior Police official indicated that the ransom demand was made directly to the telecom company. The abductors had not demanded any ransom for the two Mizos abducted along with Mondal.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has sought the help of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to secure Mondal's release. According to Mizoram Police, NLFT has taken the abducted trio to a place deep inside Bangladeshi territory. Mizoram shares unfenced borders with Myanmar (404 kilometres) and Bangladesh (318 kilometres).  Nearly 62 kilometres of the border with Bangladesh in Mamit District is unfenced. According to the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who also holds the Home portfolio, the NLFT has about 18 camps in various parts of Bangladesh, especially in the south-eastern region of the country.

Earlier, on February 19, 2013, five road construction workers at Dampa Tiger Reserve had been abducted by armed miscreants, who demanded INR 10 million as ransom for their release. They were, however, released on March 28 and handed over to Mizo leaders in Bangladesh. Mizoram Additional SP, CID-Special Branch, H.L. Thangzuala asserted that the abductors were not militants, but a group of criminals belonging to the Bru (Reang) community. However, the gang had a nexus with a Tripura-based NLFT ‘area commander’. Chief Minister Lalthanhawla, while announcing the release of the five hostages, claimed that no ransom was paid.

In 2012 as well, the NLFT had abducted 12 persons; six on November 25, including three Tripura residents, two timber merchants and one driver, from Rajibnagar village, in Mamit District; and another six on March 26, all executives of the Assam-based Anupam Bricks and Concrete Industries (ABCI), including residents of Assam, Punjab, and Rajasthan from Lunglei District.

According to a December 5, 2013, report, the ongoing political turmoil in Bangladesh has become a major source of concern for the Tripura Government, with reports of groups of NLFT militants trying to sneak into the state from their hideouts in Bangladesh. The Special Branch (Intelligence Wing) of the Tripura Police had received feedback that a large group of armed NLFT militants had been lurking close to the border, opposite the Karbook area of South Tripura.

Besides militant’s activities from neighbouring states, arms smuggling remains an urgent concern in Mizoram.

In the latest incident, during the night of December 2, 2013, Security Forces (SFs), seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including foreign-made weapons, from a truck in Serchhip District. The seized material included ten modified assault rifles along with 20 loaded magazines, four Chinese rifles with eight loaded magazines, one light machine gun (LMG), 39 live grenades, one foreign-made pistol, one telescope used for rifles, a pistol silencer and 535 live cartridges. Police arrested Thangdeihtung, the driver of the truck, and another person, identified as Liankhanmang.

Again, on September 17, 2013, SFs arrested two arms smugglers, identified as Lilriluanga, an Indian national, and Vannunchima, a Bangladeshi, along the Mizoram–Bangladesh border. SFs recovered one American-made revolver and six rounds of 9 mm ammunition, along with a few Indian and Bangladeshi currency notes and two mobile phones with five SIM cards. Both the smugglers were trying to cross over the international border from the Indian side into Bangladesh.

Mizoram Police also seized three Chinese-made grenades and ammunition from a farmhouse near Aizawl on April 30, 2013. The farmhouse belongs to one Rohmingliana, who was arrested.

However, the biggest arms haul in Mizoram thus far, and one of the biggest in the Northeast in recent years, was on March 7 and 8, 2013, at a farmhouse near the Lengpui Airport, on the outskirts of State capital, Aizawl. Mizoram Police had disclosed that sophisticated arms seized were smuggled from Myanmar and were to be delivered to the Parbotia Chatagram Jana Sangata Samiti (PCJSS) – a forum claiming to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) tribes of Bangladesh. Later, an official source stated that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered a case at its Guwahati Branch on June 7, following an official notification issued by the Union Home Ministry directing it to conduct a detailed probe into the March 7 arms haul: “The Centre has handed over the investigation to the NIA because two foreign countries are involved and moreover, the probe agency will also investigate whether any militant group of the Northeast is helping the Samiti to foment trouble in Bangladesh.” The source indicated that another reason why the seizure had worried the Home Ministry was that Mizoram, showcased as an island of peace in the troubled Northeast, was increasingly being used by rebels from other States as a corridor to smuggle arms and also to cross over to neighbouring countries in order to seek refuge or training. Increased vigil along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur was reportedly another reason why Mizoram had emerged as the preferred route.  

Significantly, according to an April 29, 2013, report, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has set a 2014 deadline to complete the fencing along the India-Bangladesh border. This was revealed in a report tabled in Parliament by a parliamentary panel attached to UMHA. The report stated that Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh had given the panel an assurance in this regard in the last week of March 2013. The report further asserted that the Home Secretary had admitted that illegal influx, trans-border smuggling and movement of insurgents were major security threats to the country that needed to be curbed by plugging gaps in the border fence. On June 12, 2013, during a meeting with Mizoram Chief Minister, BSF officials said that at least 27 camps of different insurgent groups were still located in Bangladesh near the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mamit District of Mizoram. The presence of the rebel camps in Bangladesh near the border areas necessitated the construction of border fences and also the establishment of border police outposts, the BSF officials stated.

In the meantime, the stalled talks between the Mizoram Government and the Hmar insurgent outfit – Hmar Peoples Convention-Democracy (HPC-D) - which resumed in State capital Aizawl on August 14, 2013, ended in a deadlock. The talks were in continuation of the July 18 talks between the two parties. The issue of Suspension of Operation (SoO), which had been discussed during the July talks, was again raised by the Government, but the SoO Agreement could not be extended due to differences between the Government and the HPC-D. The Government wanted the SoO to be extended for six months while HPC-D insisted on a two month extension. HPC-D and the Government of Mizoram had signed an SoO Agreement at Aizawl, on January 31, 2013, for a period of six months, after several months of tense negotiations. Earlier, HPC-D had entered into an SoO agreement on November 11, 2010, for six months, but this was not extended after its expiry on May 11, 2011, on the grounds that HPC-D was violating SoO ground rules.

Significantly, on September 13, 2013, a procession was taken out at Suangpuilawn village at the Mizoram-Manipur border, pressing for the signing of a peace agreement between the Mizoram Government and HPC-D. Resolutions adopted after the procession expressed the desire that the State Government and the HPC-D would sign an agreement to bring a permanent solution to the Hmar problems. The resolution stated, "Though the people are against balkanisation of Mizoram, we demand implementation of the Mizoram government - HPC agreement signed in 1994 which stipulated that all the areas not under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution should be included by creation of autonomous district councils."

Another issue plaguing Mizoram is the unfinished repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura, who fled the State after a major ethnic clash in 1997. In the fifth phase of repatriation (September 30-October 6, 2013), about 100 families from relief camps in the Kanchanpur Subdivision of North Tripura District returned to Mizoram. 891 Bru families had earlier been repatriated to Mizoram in four phases between May 2010 and May 2012, out of an estimated 35,000 Bru refugees in Tripura. Significantly, a poll turnout of at least 70 per cent was reported from the six Bru relief camps in North Tripura District during the three-day polling for the just held 40-member Mizoram Assembly elections, according to State Joint Chief Electoral Officer H. Lalengmawia. Polling began on November 19 and concluded on November 21, 2013, in the relief camps of Naisingpara, Asapara, Hazacherra, Khakchangpara, Kaskau and Hamsapara, for the 11,612-strong Bru electorate. The Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath, during his visit to Mizoram in November, just days before the election, had clarified that the Bru voters were allowed to exercise franchise following a High Court order in 1999 that stipulates internally displaced persons should also be able to vote.

Congress leader Lal Thanhawla during his swearing-in ceremony as the Chief Minister of Mizoram for the second consecutive term [winning 34 out of the 40 Assembly seats] on December 14, 2013, declared that the future of Brus lodged in six relief camps in Tripura would be taken up by his Government, adding that the new Government would try its best to end the problem and work for their return to Mizoram. He, however, stated that the Government would make efforts to delete the names of those who refused to be repatriated.

On June 15, 2013, the Mizoram Government justifiably demanded Security-Related Expenditure (SRE) support for the State. In a meeting with UMHA officer-on-special duty (OSD) to the State, Anil Goswami, the State Chief Secretary L. Tochhong stated that the MHA had excluded Mizoram from the SRE scheme on the grounds that it was a peaceful State. However, as Mizoram shares long porous borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as with insurgency-hit States of India's Northeast, it was very much in need of the fund like any other State in the region, if not more so. “The non-receipt of SRE has hampered security measures in Mizoram,” the chief secretary told Goswami.  Goswami responded with an assurance that all steps would be taken to include Mizoram in the list of SRE recipients. The crucial matters discussed in the meeting with the OSD Home included the fund requirement for the 4th & 5th Indian Reserve (IB) Battalion, strengthening of the Police, Bru repatriation and the ongoing construction of the border fence.

On June 5, 2013, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, while addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security at New Delhi, argued that various militant groups from neighbouring States in the Northeast as well as countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh had taken advantage of the porous and inhospitable terrain along Mizoram's interstate and international borders. At a similar conference in New Delhi on April 16, 2012, the Chief Minister reiterated that his State remained prone to a host of illegal activities, including smuggling of weapons, narcotics and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). These activities remain a concern, adding to the unresolved tensions in Mizoram, despite an uninterrupted peace since 1986.

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

Islamist Terrorism

Left-wing Extremism

Total (BANGLADESH)

INDIA

Assam

Jammu and Kashmir

Manipur

Meghalaya

Left-wing Extremism

Bihar

Jharkhand

Odisha

Total (INDIA)

PAKISTAN

Balochistan

FATA

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Punjab

Sindh

Total (PAKISTAN)