|
| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 25, Decemeber 27, 2010
 
|
|
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
West
Bengal: The Colour of Blood
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Replying
to a question in the State Assembly on December 23,
2010, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
claimed,
|
Because
of sustained joint operations by 35 companies
of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), six companies
of Nagaland Police and 51 companies of State Police,
the situation in Goaltore, Salboni and Midnapore
Sadar blocks of West Midnapore and that in Bankura
and Purulia has greatly improved... The situation
has changed in the past three months. Some of
the blocks [in Jungalmahal] are terror free...
(However) Till the situation improves in Jharkhand
and Orissa, it would be difficult to keep Bengal
unaffected. Till such a time, the paramilitary
forces should be there.
|
Earlier,
in an interview to a TV Channel in Kolkata on November
13, the Chief Minister asserted, "The Maoist leadership
is now divided. They are now cornered."
Ironically,
on December 17, cadres of the Communist Party of India
– Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
had shot dead seven workers of the All India Forward
Block (AIFB, a party belonging to the ruling Left coalition
in the State) at Baghbinda village of Jhalda in Purulia
District.
In fact,
West Bengal has witnessed a dramatic spurt in Maoist-related
fatalities in 2010. According to the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP) data base, 425 persons including 328
civilians, 36 Security Forces (SF) personnel and 61
Maoists, including cadres of the Maoist-backed People’s
Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), were killed
in the State in 2010 (till December 26), as against
158 persons, including 134 civilians, 15 SF personnel
and nine Maoists killed in the State in 2009. With this,
West Bengal has now earned the dubious distinction of
recording the highest Maoist-related fatalities in 2010,
dislodging Chhattisgarh, which had topped the list
since 2006. The intervening years have seen an extraordinary
rise in Maoist-related fatalities in West Bengal, from
just six in 2005, through 24 in 2008, and up to 158
and 418, respectively, in 2009 and 2010.
Maoist
Insurgency-related fatalities in West Bengal, 2005-2010
|
Year
|
Civilian
|
SF
|
Maoist
|
Total
|
|
2005
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
|
2006
|
9
|
7
|
4
|
20
|
|
2007
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
|
2008
|
19
|
4
|
1
|
24
|
|
2009
|
134
|
15
|
9
|
158
|
|
2010*
|
328
|
36
|
61
|
425
|
Source: SATP, *Data till
December 26, 2010
Significantly,
the civilian casualty figure of 328, which includes
the fatalities in the Gyaneshwari Express derailment
incident (148) of May 28, 2010, is by far the highest
among the Maoist affected States for any past year,
followed distantly by Chhattisgarh in 2006, with 189
civilian fatalities. In 2010, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand,
each, recorded 71 civilian fatalities. Civilian fatalities
in West Bengal recorded a 145 per cent increase over
the elevated base level of 134 for 2009, already the
highest among Maoist-affected States, though West Bengal
was placed third in total fatalities last year.
The principal
cause for this dramatic escalation is the rapid expansion
of the Maoists in the State, and their focused infiltration
of the tribal movement in Lalgarh, as a result of which
they have taken control of wide areas despite mounting
pressure from the SFs. The movement in Lalgarh snowballed
after a failed assassination attempt targeting the Chief
Minister and then Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas
Paswan at nearby Salboni
on November 2, 2008, and the clumsy Police responses
that followed. Significantly, unlike other States, the
expanding Maoist sway is confronted by the organised
(and often armed) cadres of the ruling Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal. In order to
hold the area under their control, the Maoists have
neutralised the CPI-M cadre base and terrorised the
masses – tactics that explain the large number of CPI-M
cadre and ‘sympathisers’ among the ‘civilian’ fatalities
in the State. Indeed, of the 328 civilians killed in
2010, CPI-M leaders and cadre account for as many as
116.
SF fatalities
have also risen to 36 in 2010, from 15 in 2009, even
as 61 Maoists were killed, as against nine in 2009,
reflecting increasing direct confrontation between the
SFs and the Maoists.
In terms
of spatial distribution, fatalities in Maoist-related
incidents have been reported from five Districts: West
Midnapore (365), Purulia (33), Bankura (23), Birbhum
(2) and Murshidabad (2). By comparison, 2009 recorded
Maoist-related fatalities from West Midnapore (135),
Purulia (10), Bankura (8), Jalpaigudi (1), Murshidabad
(1), and South 24-Pargana (2). The focus of Maoist activities
evidently remains in West Midnapore District, though
the Maoists have also succeeded in intensifying their
activities in Purulia and Bankura Districts.
The State
witnessed 14 major incidents (involving three or more
casualties) through 2010. The most significant among
these included:
February
15, 2010: Over 100 armed CPI-Maoist cadres attacked
the paramilitary Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp
at Silda,
just 30 kilometers from Midnapore town, in the West
Midnapore District, killing 24 EFR personnel. One civilian
who was injured in the cross fire died later. Another
seven troopers were also injured.
May 19:
Four CRPF personnel and a Deputy Commandant were killed,
while another trooper was critically injured, when CPI-Maoist
cadres triggered a landmine explosion targeting the
car they were travelling in near Lalgarh in West Midnapore
District.
May 28,
2010: At least 148 passengers were killed when cadres
of the Maoist-backed PCPA sabotaged the railway track
between Khemasoli and Sardiha Railway Stations near
Jhargram in West Midnapore District, causing the derailment
of 13 coaches of the Gyaneshwari
Express. Another 145 persons suffered
injuries.
June
16: At least 12 CPI-Maoist cadres were killed and several
others injured in an encounter between the Maoist and
a joint SF contingent at Ranja Forest near Lalgarh
in West Midnapore District of West Bengal.
July
26: Six cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including a woman,
and a CRPF trooper were killed in an encounter in the
dense forests under Goaltore Police Station in West
Midnapore District. 12 weapons, including SLRs and INSAS
rifles, were also recovered from the site of the encounter.
August
26: Just before being killed by SFs, Umakanta Mahato,
a prime accused in Gyaneshwari Express derailment case,
held a 'people's court' at midnight at Kalabani village,
near Jhargram in West Midnapore District and ‘sentenced’
three supporters of ruling CPI-M to death after branding
them Police informers. The CPI-M sympathizers were executed
immediately.
The Maoists
were also involved in at least 25 cases of landmine
explosions, 18 incidents of arson, and two incidents
of abduction (an overwhelming majority of abduction
cases go unreported because of fear of the Maoists),
and gave bandh (general shut down) calls on at
least 29 occasions through 2010. The Maoists also executed
seven ‘swarming attacks’ involving significant numbers
of their People’s Militia
in 2010, as against eight such attacks in 2009.
There
were, however, significant SF successes in 2010, including
the killing of six Maoists, along with Sidhu Soren,
the founding ‘commander-in-chief’ of Sidhu Kanu Gana
Militia, in an encounter in Maleta forest in Goaltore
area of West Midnapore District on July 26, 2010;
the Ranja forest encounter of June 16, 2010, in which
at least 12 Maoists were killed; and the Hathilot Forest
encounter (near Lakhanpur) of March 25, 2010, where
Maoist Politburo member Koteswar Rao alias Kishan
was injured. Most significantly, the PCPA founder-president,
Lalmohan Tudu, was killed by the SFs on February 22,
2010, along with at least two other PCPA cadres.
These
operational successes were compounded by key arrests.
Four members of the Maoists’ West Bengal State Committee,
including ‘state secretary’ Sudip Chongdar aka Kanchan
aka Batas, Anil Ghosh aka Ajoyda, Barun
Sur aka Bidyut, and Kalpana Maity, wife of Ashim
Mondal aka Akash, were arrested from Kolkata
on December 3 and 4, 2010. A day after these
arrests, Asim Mondal aka Akash, a senior member
of the State Committee, admitted "The arrest is unfortunate
and no doubt it is a jolt for our organisation." Earlier,
on March 2, 2010, Venkateswar Reddy aka Telugu
Dipak, another State Committee member, had been arrested
from Sarshuna near Calcutta. Dipak was the suspected
mastermind of the February 15, 2010, attack on the EFR
camp at Silda. Indeed, an abrupt leadership vacuum among
the Maoists in West Bengal seems to have been created,
with seven of the 11 State Committee members either
behind bar or dead. [The 11 member Committee included:
Kanchan, Deepak, Anil Ghosh, Barun Sur, Dwijen Hembram,
Sashdhar Mahato, Madhai Patra, Nirmalda, Mansaram Hembram
aka Bikash, Asim Mondal aka Akash and
Kalpana Maity aka Anu.]
Further,
Bapi Mahato, a prime accused in the Gyaneshwari Express
derailment case as well as a senior member of the Maoist-backed
PCPA was arrested by a joint team of the West Bengal
and Jharkhand Police from the Adityapur area of Jamshedpur
in Jharkhand on June 20, 2010. According to the SATP
database, at least 245 arrests have been made in 2010
in connection with Maoist activities. On June 18, 2010,
however, State Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen claimed
that SFs operating in the Jungalmahal area, which includes
Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore Districts, had arrested
"about 400 to 500 Maoists". Nevertheless,
the mastermind behind almost all the Maoist attacks
in the region, Koteswar Rao aka Kishanji, CPI-Maoist
Politburo member in charge of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand
and Orissa, remains elusive.
Expecting
that the pressure mounted by the SFs would induce some
Maoists to lay down arms, the State announced its new
surrender policy on June 15. The ‘package’ followed
Central Government guidelines, with a one-off payment
of INR 150,000, vocational training for three months,
and INR 2,000 in a monthly stipend for each surrendering
cadre. If arms were also surrendered, they would receive,
in addition, INR 15,000 for an AK-47 rifle, INR 25,000
for a machine gun, and INR 3,000 for a pistol or revolver.
On June 17, West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP)
Bhupinder Singh stated, "We have received feelers that
a number of people are willing to surrender." By December
26, 2010, however, only five Maoists had surrendered,
after the announcement of the ‘package’.
Despite
the many SF successes, however, there is little reason
for any great optimism. The Chief Minister’s claim that
‘the situation has changed in the past three months’,
while not altogether incorrect, nevertheless glosses
over the reality of continuing killings in the State,
despite the deployment of 92 SF companies in the Jungalmahal
area.
Maoist
Insurgency-related fatalities in West Bengal, January
– December 2010
|
Month
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Terrorists
|
Total
|
|
January
|
13
|
1
|
6
|
20
|
|
February
|
6
|
26
|
9
|
41
|
|
March
|
10
|
0
|
6
|
16
|
|
April
|
15
|
0
|
2
|
17
|
|
May
|
175
|
5
|
0
|
180**
|
|
June
|
17
|
1
|
15
|
33
|
|
July
|
25
|
1
|
9
|
35
|
|
August
|
11
|
0
|
7
|
18
|
|
September
|
14
|
1
|
2
|
17
|
|
October
|
11
|
0
|
2
|
13
|
|
November
|
13
|
0
|
2
|
15
|
|
December
|
18
|
1
|
1
|
20
|
|
Total*
|
328
|
36
|
61
|
425
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till December 26, 2010
[**Note: The unusually high number of May is because
of the Gyaneshwari Express derailment incident in which
148 persons were killed]
Again,
the Chief Minister’s claim that "some of the blocks
are terror free" cannot be accepted without qualification.
It is, of course, the case that, on October 18, 2010,
at least 12,000 CPI-M cadres marched 12 kilometres from
Dharampur and Goaltore to Lalgarh and ‘reclaimed’ the
area amid tight security. According to media reports,
earlier, an armed rally of CPI-M party cadres, led by
its Zonal Committee Secretary Annuj Pandey, who was
driven out of his residence in Dharampur in June 2009,
‘reclaimed’ Dharampur and opened the party office located
near his residence. However, the role of armed CPI-M
cadres in these ‘recoveries’ can hardly be overlooked.
Even Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged,
on September 1, 2010, the existence of armed CPI-M camps
in the State. Again on December 21, 2010, Chidambaram
wrote to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asking
him to ensure the armed cadres -- including those from
the ruling party-supported 'Harmad Vahini' – are "immediately
disarmed and demobilised".
In August
2010, the State Government advertised a call for recruitment
to 4,767 Police Constables, essentially to fill existing
vacancies. The State has a dismal Police Population
ratio of 89 per 100,000, way below the national average
of 128, as on December 31, 2008 (National Crime Records
Bureau Data). There is little possibility of raising
the size of the State Police Force to an acceptable
level to secure operational efficiency against the Maoists
in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile,
the State Government has sent a proposal to the Union
Government to declare another three Districts – Birbhum,
Murshidabad and Nadia – Maoist-affected, and the matter
is under consideration by the Centre. West Midnapore,
Purulia and Bankura were already in the list of Maoist-affected
Districts. According to reports submitted by the State
Police to the State Home Department, eight Police Stations
in Nadia, six Police Stations in Birbhum and three Police
Stations in Murshidabad have seen increased Maoist activity.
The report further disclosed that the Maoists had formed
a ‘regional committee’ in Nadia and an ‘area committee’
in Jalangi. The leader of the ‘area committee’ has been
identified as Prasanta Das alias Raja, a resident of
Kotwal. Das is reported to be the key person in the
area, and is involved in strengthening the cadre’s base
in Murshidabad and Nadia Districts, and in spreading
Maoist influence in the colleges of these Districts.
The Maoists had initiated activities by forming a front
organisation called Mazdoor Krishak Sangram Samity (Workers
and Peasants’ Struggle Committee).
Further,
the interrogation of Sudip Chongdar aka Kanchan
and other arrested State Committee members revealed
that the Maoists were planning to build an urban backup
force, with Kolkata as its centre. Recovered documents
disclosed that the Maoists had more than 200 primary
members in and around the city, and hundreds of sympathisers.
Students and labourers from the unorganised sector were
the main recruitment pools, and the Maoists were working
to set up a viable urban network for shelter and logistics
support. The investigating officers revealed that the
Maoists had a four-member ‘city committee’, which was
in charge of the urban organisation. Police had also
recovered several important CDs related to the urban
warfare plan of the Maoist ‘Red Brigade’.
A consignment
of the hi-tech communication devices recovered after
Kanchan’s arrest was found to have been procured for
Chhattisgarh. Investigating officers disclosed that
the Maoists were trying to develop radio-controlled
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and had already
unsuccessfully tested some such IEDs in Jharkhand. Two
senior Central Committee members were in charge of the
technical cell, and an officer stated, further, "They
are also getting help from some city-based students."
Disturbingly,
media reports indicate that the Maoists have been recruiting
a large number of teenagers, mainly from the Jungalmahal
area. In West Midnapore alone, the Maoists are estimated
to have trained about 500 teenagers in the first half
of 2010. On May 11, 2010, West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma
had disclosed, "The boys are offered a monthly
amount of INR 2,500." In the June 16 incident in
the Ranja Forest, Police records indicate that six of
the 12 dead were about 15 or 16 years old.
The Political
dynamics of the election-bound State are also making
things difficult for the success of anti-Maoist operations.
The bitter rivalry between the ruling Left coalition
and the main opposition party, the Trinamool Congress
(TMC), has polarized constituencies and provoked significant
violence, including credible claims of linkages between
the TMC and the Maoists in several protest movements
of the recent past. On August 7, 2010, the CPI-M claimed
that 250 of its activists had been killed by "TMC-Maoist
gangs". On December 3, 2010, on the other hand,
the TMC alleged that 150 people, including TMC supporters,
had been killed ‘miscreants backed by the CPI-M’ since
the last Lok Sabha election. Meanwhile, the Union
Ministry of Home Affairs reported that 96 TMC and 65
CPI-M cadres had been killed till December 15. In its
bid to dislodge the ruling coalition from power, the
TMC has sought to secure the support of the Maoists,
and has repeatedly been demanding the withdrawal of
joint SFs from Jungalmahal. The TMC had come out openly
in support of the Maoist-backed PCPA and had also organised
a joint rally with the PCPA in Lalgarh.
On December 20, 2010, the TMC took the dead body of
Sanatan Hembram, a PCPA supporter who was allegedly
killed by CPI-M cadres in the Lalgarh area, in a procession
in Kolkata. The TMC claimed that Hembram was its party
cadre, though Police claimed he was initially a Jharkhand
Party member who later joined the PCPA and was associated
with the Sidhu Kanu Gana Militia.
Within
West Bengal’s fractious politics, with the principal
political parties consolidating their own armed cadres,
and the Maoists playing a significant role in shaping
the electoral scenario, there is grave risk that the
limited gains of the recent past will be washed away
in a rising tide of bloodshed.
|
Steady Progress
Anshuman Behera
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The processes
of de-radicalization initiated by the Sheikh Hasina Government
after it came to power on January 6, 2009, have been further
and considerably consolidated through 2010, with Dhaka
successfully reining in the Islamist extremist constituency
in the country, even as it continued to ruthlessly target
an incipient radical Left Wing movement.
Interestingly,
the country’s extremist Islamist image has been turned
around with relatively little bloodshed, even as Left
Wing Extremists (LWE), whose activities are little in
evidence, continue to be killed in much larger numbers.
According to the partial data compiled by the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the country witnessed
a total of 56 fatalities, including 48 militants, four
civilians and three Security Force (SF) personnel in 2010,
in 49 incidents of killing, as compared to 87 fatalities,
including 81 militants and six civilians, in 68 incidents
of killing in 2009. Also, while 2009 had witnessed two
major incidents (involving three or more fatalities),
the year 2010 witnessed a single major incident.
Fatalities:
2005-2010
| |
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Terrorists
|
Total
|
|
2010*
|
|
Islamist
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
|
Left
Wing
|
1
|
3
|
46
|
50
|
|
Total
|
4
|
3
|
49
|
56
|
|
2009
|
|
Islamist
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Left
Wing
|
6
|
0
|
81
|
87
|
|
Total
|
6
|
0
|
81
|
87
|
|
2008
|
|
Islamist
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Left
Wing
|
3
|
1
|
53
|
57
|
|
Total
|
4
|
1
|
53
|
58
|
|
2007
|
|
Islamist
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
8
|
|
Left
Wing
|
8
|
0
|
72
|
80
|
|
Total
|
9
|
0
|
79
|
88
|
|
2006
|
|
Islamist
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
12
|
|
Left
Wing
|
28
|
5
|
139
|
172
|
|
Total
|
34
|
5
|
145
|
184
|
|
2005
|
|
Islamist
|
26
|
0
|
9
|
35
|
|
Left
Wing
|
11
|
3
|
163
|
177
|
|
Total
|
37
|
3
|
172
|
212
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till December 26, 2010
LWE-related
fatalities were, however, at their lowest in 2010, as
compared to the preceding five years. A total of 50 persons,
comprising of 46 militants, three SFs and a civilian were
killed in 43 incidents of LWE-linked killing. Of the 46
LWE cadre killed in 2010, 33 were killed in two Districts,
Pabna (17) and Kushtia (16). The remaining 13 were killed
in Jhenidah (2), Dhaka (2) and Rajbari (2); and Meherpur,
Chittagong, Chuadanga, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Magura and
Khulna, each with a single fatality. The single civilian
killing occurred in Kushtia District on August 16. Also,
the single major incident took place on July 20, when
three SF personnel were killed by cadres of the Janajuddha
faction of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-Janajuddha)
in Pabna District. 12 of the country’s 64 Districts recorded
a LWE-related killing in 2010.
In 2009,
87 persons had been killed in LWE-related violence, including
81 militants and six civilians, in 68 incidents. Out of
the 81 militants killed, 53 were killed in three Districts
– Kushtia (29), Pabna (14) and Chuadanga (10). The remaining
28 were killed in Bagerhat (5), Khulna (5), Jhenidah (4),
Meherpur (4), Dhaka (2), Naogaon (2), Barisal (2), Faridpur
(1), Satkhira (1), Jessore (1), and Magura (1). The six
civilians were killed in four incidents in three Districts
– Kushtia (3), Pabna (2) and Sirajganj (1). 15 Districts
thus witnessed incidents of LWE-linked killing in 2009,
with Kushtia (32) and Pabna (16) the worst affected.
13 LWE
groups are believed to be ‘active’ in the country: Purba
Banglar Communist Party, PBCP (Janajuddha), PBCP (M-L
Red Flag), PBCP (M-L Communist War), Biplabi Communist
Party, New Biplabi Communist Party, Gono Bahini, Gono
Mukti Fouz, Banglar Communist Party, Socialist Party,
Biplabi Anuragi, Chhinnamul Communist Party and Sarbahara
People's March. Reports indicate that most of these are
more or less ‘criminal groups’ rather than militant outfits.
Meanwhile,
six fatalities, including three civilians and three militants,
were recorded in as many Islamist extremism linked incidents
in 2010. Three civilians were killed by the Islami Chhatra
Shibir (ICS),
the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), in three
incidents in February. The civilians were killed in Dhaka
(2) and Rajshahi (1) Districts. The three militants were
killed in Chittagong (2) and Nawabganj (1) Districts in
three separate incidents in the months of February (1)
and April (2). There were no such fatalities in 2009.
Indeed,
it was after a span of two years that the SFs killed militants
involved in Islamist extremism, even as Islamist extremist
formations appear to have withdrawn into a defensive shell
after the arrest, trial and conviction (and including
the execution) of many of their top leadership. It would,
however, be far from accurate to suggest that Islamist
extremism has been wiped
out from the country. Significantly,
Maulana Saidur Rahman aka Zafar, chief of the Jama'atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),
who was arrested on May 25, 2010, disclosed that the JMB
had about 400 full-time cadres across the country and
a ‘military wing’ capable of launching major attacks.
He also claimed that hardliners who had taken control
of the JMB would be more destructive as a result of his
absence as chief. Further, he disclosed that Sohel Mahfuz
had become JMB’s ‘acting chief’ and Nazmul Anwar Alam
aka Bhagina Shahid was its ‘military wing commander’.
[Police, however, believe that Alam was the ‘acting chief’
of the JMB]. Rahman also disclosed that, apart from the
fake currency trade, JMB received funds from several sources
at home and abroad. Rahman also admitted that the JMB
has several hundred explosive devices, handmade bombs
and grenades stashed at different locations.
Alam, the
‘acting chief’ of the JMB, was subsequently arrested on
July 12, 2010, and disclosed that the JMB had a hit list
of 12 top political figures, mostly ruling party leaders.
He, however, claimed that the JMB had destroyed all the
explosives it had in the northern region. Rahman, however,
contradicted this claim, and suggested that Alam could
have shifted the arms and explosives to new locations.
Another
senior leader of the JMB, Abu Bakkr Siddique aka Shiblu,
who was arrested in Thakurgaon District on May 25, 2010,
told the SFs that JMB had trained some of its female operatives
in using grenades, and they had been making preparations
to carry out a series of grenade attacks in Dhaka on a
limited scale. Shiblu confirmed Rahman’s claim that the
aim of the planned attacks was to signal the JMB’s re-emergence
and to attract prospective recruits. Worryingly, the nexus
between the JeI and the JMB was revealed like never before.
Investigators brought together Saidur Rahman of JMB and
arrested leaders of the JeI, including JeI Ameer (chief)
Matiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad
Mujaheed, and Nayeb-e-Ameer (Deputy Chief) Delwar
Hossain Sayedee on July 13. [These three top JeI leaders
were arrested from Dhaka on June 29, 2010]. It was there
Saidur Rahman admitted his past affiliation with the JeI,
as a former Ameer (chief) of the JeI Habiganj District
unit. He also claimed that the JeI had provided training
in handling small arms and grenades.
In a further
development, on December 13, 2010, the Rapid Action Battalion
(RAB) neutralized a hilltop training camp of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh
(HuJI-B)
in Chittagong District and arrested five militants along
with 11 live ‘cocktail bombs’, two kilograms of explosive
materials, grenades, bomb-making manuals in Arabic, electric
circuits, adaptors, fuses and booklets written by ex-JeI
leader Golam Azam and incumbent JeI chief Motiur Rahman
Nizami. 20 militants managed to escape.
Dhaka has,
moreover, taken a number of visible measures to permanently
exorcise Islamist extremism and fundamentalism from the
country.
The Government
initiated a trial of the War Criminals (WCs) of the 1971
Liberation
War, as had been promised in the Awami
League’s election manifesto. This measure seeks to bring
to justice the men, prominently including the top leadership
of the JeI, who collaborated with the Pakistan Army and
Government in the genocide of an estimated three million
people during the Liberation War, and in the use of rape
and collective slaughters as instruments of State policy.
The Tribunal, which was mandated to trail and prosecute
the WCs, was constituted on March 25, 2010.
The Government
also appointed an investigative and research organisation,
the War Criminals Fact Finding Committee (WCFFC), which
handed over a list of WCs and documented evidence in support
of charges against them, on April 4, 2010. According to
the convener of the WCFFC, M. A. Hassan, the documentation
comprehended 18 books, the names and addresses of 1,775
alleged WCs, and detailed accounts of crimes, including
mass killings. Earlier, on March 23, reports indicated
that the Government had approved a list of WCs prepared
by the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID).
The trial
of the WCs was initiated on March 25, 2010, but there
have been demands from many civil society organisations
to speed up the process. In response, Law Minister Shafique
Ahmed, on December 15, 2010, gave a commitment that WC
trials would be completed within the tenure of the present
Government, but that, "We are trying that the war
crimes trial lives up to international standards and none
can raise any question about it." Further, on December
20, 2010, he added that the trial of the detained WC-accused
would start in January-February in 2011.
One of
the most significant steps in connection with the WC trials
was the arrest of five top leaders of the JeI: Ameer
Matiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan
Muhammad Mujaheed, Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain
Sayedee, senior leaders Mohammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul
Qader Mollah.
In another
blow to the fundamentalists, the Sheikh Hasina Government
initiated a challenge to the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution
of April 1979, which removed secularism from the Constitution,
and imposed an Islamic character. The preamble of the
Constitution had been changed to include a pledge that
"the high ideals of absolute trust and faith in the
Almighty Allah" shall be the fundamental principle
of the Constitution. On January 3, 2010, the Government
filed a case against the Fifth Amendment, and on October
4, 2010, the High Court ruled that, "Bangladesh is
now a Secular State since the original Constitution of
1972 has been automatically restored following the Supreme
Court Judgment." Earlier, on July 27, 2010, the Supreme
Court had restored the original Constitution of 1972.
The Supreme Court also reinstated a ban on Islamic political
parties on July 28, 2010. In a detailed, 184-page verdict,
the Supreme Court scrapped the bulk of the 1979 Fifth
Amendment, including provisions that had allowed religious
political parties to flourish and that legalised military
rule. Bangladesh was re-declared a Secular state after
a gap of 31 years.
By December
26, the Government had arrested some 958 cadres and leaders
of the ICS and the JeI in 2010, as compared to just 23
in 2009. 43 JMB and nine HuJI-B militants were also arrested
in 2010, as against 101 and 11, respectively, for these
outfits in 2009. Conspicuously, the Government’s drive
against both these organizations intensified after the
killing of a Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), activist,
identified as Faruk Hossain, in Rajshahi University (RU)
campus on February 9, 2010, and the subsequent confirmation
of the link between JeI and ICS.
Significantly,
one of the leaders of the banned ICS in RU, Ekram Hossain,
convicted for the February 9 murder, admitted that the
top leadership of the JeI had been involved in the incident.
Similarly, Rajshahi JeI leader Gias Uddin, in his confessional
note before the Rajshahi Court, stated, on March 14, 2010,
that all tiers of the JeI had backed the ICS in the February
9 violence at RU, following an organizational decision.
With the
top leadership of the JeI behind the bars, a leadership
vacuum
has emerged in the organisation. A March 25, 2010,
report quoted a senior JeI leader, who requested anonymity,
as conceding that the Government’s move to try top JeI
leaders with alleged links to the WCs had forced them
to desperately search for ways to evade prosecution and
protect their political future. The JeI and the ICS have
been engineering sporadic street violence and protests
against the Government in attempts to free their arrested
leaders. On June 13, 2010, JeI and ICS cadres clashed
with BCL cadres in Dhaka, resulting in injuries to some
35 persons. This was followed by JeI and ICS clashes with
the Police on June 30, 2010, during demonstrations demanding
the release of top JeI leaders. In another incident, on
July 4, 2010, cadres of the JeI and ICS rampaged through
the streets of Chittagong, destroying 100 vehicles, during
the JeI’s two-day protest against the arrest of its leaders.
On December 7, 2010, 43 JeI leaders and cadres were arrested
and 40 persons, including eight Policemen, were injured
in clashes with the Police in Narsingdi and Chittagong
District.
Apart from
the indigenous extremist groups, Bangladesh is also struggling
against foreign terrorist outfits, mainly from Pakistan,
linked to extremist formations in Bangladesh. On February
28, 2010, RAB personnel arrested five Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) militants headed by Rezwan Ahmed, a Pakistani national.
According to the RAB sources, Rezwan coordinated JeM operations
in Bangladesh and was involved in recruiting locals for
the terror outfit and sending them to Pakistan for training.
In another similar incident on April 8, 2010, RAB personnel
arrested a Pakistani national, identified as Mobashwer
Shahid Mubin alias Yahia (25), an ‘organizer’ of
the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
RAB revealed that Yahia was suspected to be involved in
devising a plot to attack the Indian and US missions in
Dhaka.
The Government
also took strong measures against insurgent groups active
in India’s northeast, which had long secured safe haven
in Bangladesh and taking shelter on its territory. In
a major development, the Bangladeshi authorities allegedly
arrested Manipur based United National Liberation Front
(UNLF)
‘chairman’, Rajkumar Meghen on September 29, 2010, and
handed him over to India. [Indian officials claimed that
Meghen was arrested in Motihari, the District Headquarter
of Champaran District in the Eastern Indian State of Bihar.]
Earlier, on May 1, 2010, Bangladesh handed
over, Ranjan Daimary, the 'president'
of the Anti-Talks faction of the National Democratic Front
of Bodoland (NDFB-ATF)
to India. Also, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
‘general secretary’ Anup Chetia, who was arrested in Bangladesh
on December 21, 1997, and kept under detention later is
likely to be handed over to India shortly. Chetia was
arrested on December 21, 1997, in Dhaka, for illegally
carrying currencies of 16 different countries, illegal
possession of arms and a satellite phone and carrying
fake passports. He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment
by a Bangladeshi court. After his jail term, the then
Khaleda Zia Government stalled the process of his expatriation
to India. Since then, he has been held at the Dhaka jail.
Further, on December 4, 2009, the exiled ‘chairman’ of
ULFA, and the outfit’s ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ Raju
Baruah, were handed over to Indian authorities. In November
2009, another two top ULFA leaders, ‘foreign secretary’
Sasadhar Choudhury, and ‘finance secretary’ Chitraban
Hazarika, had been turned over to Indian authorities at
the Gokul Nagar post of the Border Security Force, before
they were brought to Guwahati by an Assam Police team.
Meanwhile,
during Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, on January 11,
2010, India and Bangladesh signed agreements on Mutual
Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, Transfer of Sentenced
Persons, and Combating International Terrorism, Organized
Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking. On January 13, 2010,
replying on the issue of handing over top ULFA and NDFB
leaders, Sheikh Hasina disclosed that India and Bangladesh
were working on an extradition treaty.
The gains
of 2010 have been dramatic, but a note of caution remains
to be sounded. The residual capacities of the JeI and
JMB are significant, even as HuJI-B continues to maintain
close links with a number of ambitious Pakistani groups
adamant upon spreading their base in the country. Moreover,
the corrosive nature of violent and disruptive street
mobilization by political parties in Bangladesh has the
potential to destroy the tentative stability that has
been secured after decades of rising disorder. Bangladesh
has made very steady, indeed, dramatic gains, in two short
years, but is still at risk of sliding back if the Government
wavers even slightly.
|
Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
December 20-26,
2010
|
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
|
Manipur
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
5
|
|
Odisha
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
|
West Bengal
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
|
Total (INDIA)
|
10
|
9
|
7
|
26
|
|
NEPAL
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
15
|
1
|
0
|
16
|
|
FATA
|
41
|
20
|
50
|
111
|
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
56
|
21
|
51
|
128
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
US,
UK and India consider RAB a potential counter-terrorism
ally, reveal WikiLeaks: The
WikiLeaks through the US Embassy in Dhaka
revealed that the United States (US), United Kingdom
(UK) and India share almost common counter-terrorism
goals in Bangladesh, all of whom consider Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB) a potential counter-terrorism
ally. The January 2009 cable revealed, "The ambassador
stressed that the US Government had started human
rights training for the RAB. He added that the RAB
was the enforcement organisation best positioned
to one day becomes a Bangladeshi version of the
US Federal Bureau of Investigation."
The
Daily Star, December 22,
2010.
INDIA
There
is no extremist base in Bhutan, says Bhutanese Prime
Minister: Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley
on December 20 said that no extremist element had
found shelter in Bhutan ever since extremists were
flushed out from his country in 2003. "There are no
Indian militant camps or bases in my country and we
shall ensure that no militants are able to enter Bhutan,"
Thinley said. He also said there were no hideouts
of North-East militant groups in his country, adding,
"There are no camps of either the ULFA or the
NDFB in Bhutan's territory. Nor will we allow such
camps to come up." Reiterating Bhutan's commitment
to fight terrorism, Thinley said its territory would
not be allowed to be used for terrorist activities
against India. DNA
India; The
Hindu;
UNI,
December 20-21, 2010.
Indian
Security Forces can enter Myanmar to hunt down terrorists,
says report: At a meeting of officers from the
Ministry of Home Affairs and Myanmar’s Chin State
on December 20, it was decided that Indian Security
Forces can enter Myanmar to hunt down terrorists after
taking due permission from Myanmarese authorities.
According to Indian officials, several militants from
the Northeast have taken shelter in Myanmar and Bangladesh
and have set up bases and training camps.
IANS,
December 21, 2010.
Four
LeT cadres have sneaked in to Mumbai, warn Police:
The
Mumbai Police on December 23 issued an advisory stating
that four Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants had entered
Mumbai with the intention of causing an "extremely
dangerous and violent attack" on the city in
view of the coming festivals and New Year celebrations.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy,
at a press conference in Mumbai identified the militants
as Abdul Karim Musa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah
and Mehfuz Alam. Of these the photograph of Walid
Jinnah has been published for wide circulation among
the public. Roy, however, declined to reveal the nationalities
or other details of the intruders. The
Hindu, December 24, 2010.
PAKISTAN
50
militants and 41 civilians among 111 persons killed
during the week in FATA: A woman suicide bomber
on December 25 blew herself up at a distribution centre
of the World Food Programme at Khar in Bajaur Agency
of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), killing
45 persons and injuring another 80 who had queued
for aid. Five militants were killed when Army helicopter
gunships pounded militant’s hideouts in Malangyar
area of Safi tehsil (revenue unit) in Mohmand
Agency.
Two
unidentified militants and a Frontier Corps (FC) trooper
were killed on December 24 when militants attacked
the Bara Press Club in Khyber Agency that the paramilitary
force was using as a security post.
TTP
militants attacked five checkpoints in the Mohmand
Agency after December 23 midnight, sparking a clash
which left 11 paramilitary soldiers and 24 militants
dead. Militant toll rose to 40 on December 24.
At
least 24 militants and three soldiers were killed
in clashes when a group of 150 TTP militants attacked
a FC check post in Baidnami village near the border
with Afghanistan in Mohammad Agency on December 23.
Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, December 21-27, 2009.
2010
bloodiest year for Pakistan since 2001, says a report:
A total
of 1,224 people were killed and 2,157 more injured
in 52 suicide attacks across Pakistan since January,
making 2010 one of the bloodiest years since the turn
of the century. Though the total number of suicide
bombings decreased 35 per cent this year as against
the past year, 2010 was the bloodiest year since 2001
in terms of the number of the people killed in such
attacks. Pakistan witnessed 80 suicide attacks in
2009 that killed 1,217 people and injured 2,305 others.
On an average, suicide bombers killed 102 persons
a month this year, compared to last year's average
of 101 killings a month. The bombers, on an average,
killed more than 23 Pakistanis every week and over
three persons every day in 2010. Over four suicide
attacks were carried out every month this year, compared
to six assaults every month in 2009. Civilian casualties
accounted for 49 per cent of the total deaths caused
by suicide bombings this year. The remainder were
personnel from Security Forces and law enforcement
agencies, including the Police, military, Frontier
Constabulary (FC), Pakistan Rangers, Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) and Khasadar militia. Twelve per
cent of casualties were Shias, eight per cent were
Ahmedis and six per cent were Barelvi Muslims. The
largest number of deaths in suicide attacks, 416 was
reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Times of India, December
24, 2010.
UK
Christmas terror attack plotters trained in Pakistan,
say sources: Members
of an alleged terrorist cell planning November 26,
2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11)-type
suicide attacks on Christmas shoppers in London received
their training in Pakistan; Indian Express
quoting The Telegraph reported on December
23. It was reported that the cell is described as
"al Qaeda inspired" because no specific
information has emerged about the links they may have
made with the terrorist outfits in Pakistan. Investigators
believe that it is significant that although most
of the cell is British with Bangladeshi origins, its
members chose to travel to Pakistan. The cell is thought
to be associated with the banned extremist groups
al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK in Britain, as well as
being followers of the Yemen-based al Qaeda preacher
Anwar al-Awlaki.
Indian Express, December
23, 2010.
US
seeking to expand raids into Pakistan, says New York
Times report: Top US military commanders in Afghanistan
are seeking to expand ground raids by Special Operations
Forces across the border in Pakistan’s tribal areas,
Dawn quoting New York Times reported
on December 20. The officials are proposing to escalate
military activities in the nuclear-armed nation, the
report said. US forces have been largely restricted
to limited covert operations and unmanned drone strikes
in Pakistan.
Meanwhile,
Pakistan on December 21 ruled out the notion of
any foreign troops operating on its soil, with its
top diplomat in Washington stressing that Pakistani
forces are capable of handling terrorist threats within
the country’s borders. Dawn;
Daily
Times, December 16, 2010.
|
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on
terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
related economic, political, and social issues, in the South
Asian region.
SAIR is a project
of the Institute
for Conflict Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
|
|
|
