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ARRESTED MILITANTS

No plan to press sedition charges against them

Staff Correspondent
The government does not plan to press any sedition charge right now against the Islamist militant leaders arrested in Rajshahi Wednesday, although it has accused them of creating social unrest by misleading a group of youths using their religious sentiments.
"There are already some cases of murder, bomb attack and robbery filed against them [the four arrested leaders of Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab)] with different police stations and they will now be tried for those charges," a government policymaker told The Daily Star yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Asked to explain the delay in
charging them with sedition, when the government already has implicated them in attempts to create social unrest, the policymaker just said, "We're now examining the charges they are already facing."
On whether sedition charges may be brought against them later, he said it is not the right time to answer that question.
After the arrests of Ahab Amir Dr Muhammad Asadullah Al Galib, Nayeb-e-Amir Shaikh Abdus Samad Salafi, General Secretary Moulana Nurul Islam and Organising Secretary ASM Azizullah Wednesday, police said the arrests had been made under Section 54 of
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the CrPC on requests of three police stations of Bogra and Gopalganj.
Police said a number of arrestees at Shahjahanpur and Gabtoli police stations of Bogra linked Galib to a murder and a bomb attack they are accused of. Some other arrestees in Gopalganj accused of a robbery at a Kotalipara NGO office also alleged involvement of the three arrested associates of Galib in that crime.
But, the home ministry press note on the ban of Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) and Jama'atul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) on Wednesday accused them of a series of bomb attacks and murders to create anarchy using people's religious sentiments. DEVELOPMENTS IN
RANGPUR
Our Rangpur correspondent reports: Police yesterday showed the two suspected JMB operatives picked up Tuesday night from Gangachara upzila arrested in connection with a robbery.
Fazlul Hoque and Samiul Alam were held with a large number of books on Islamic revolution.
But, when they were produced before a magistrate yesterday, police said they are suspected to be involved in a recent robbery at Bangladesh Betar, Rangpur Centre.
Police said they have taken the two arrestees on an eight-day remand to interrogate them about their network in the northern districts.
CRACKDOWN OR 'EYEWASH'?
A number of government officials believe the current crackdown on Islamist militants is probably an 'eyewash' to gain confidence of the international community, to whom Bangladesh's image has gone down significantly in recent times.
They think the on-going meeting in Washington on Bangladesh jointly organised by the European Union (EU), the World Bank and the US State Department, without the representation of Bangladesh, has irked and prompted the government to wake up to the militant threat at last.
Explaining the motivation of the prime minister for finally launching the crackdown on Islamist militants, whose presence has persistently been denied for long, an influential minister said, "The government has been facing a serious image crisis abroad for the last several months over the Islamist militant issue. Major donor countries and agencies have been raising the issue in every meeting with the government."
He said, "Some donors even
threatened to stop aid and cooperation."
But a strong influence of the rightwing BNP leaders kept the ruling coalition high command from paying much attention to the issue, the minister added.
"The government could have avoided many violent incidents if this decision to crack down on militants was taken a year ago, when the religious extremists started to operate openly," he observed with regret.
A highly placed home ministry source yesterday also expressed doubts whether the government would continue the drive or just use it as an 'eyewash' as had happened in the past.
He said similar instructions had come after a bomb explosion in Dinajpur on February 13 and arrests of several Islamist militants in Chapainawabganj in March 2003. The government then began a drive against militant groups which further intensified following the August 14, 2003 gunfight between police and JMB operatives in Joypurhat and the arrests of about two dozens of militants in its wake.
"But that drive was stalled during the Iraq War in fear of kindling a negative sentiment at home," the official said.
Similarly, findings of the investigations into the 22 killings and innumerable incidents of tortures on villagers by the JMJB cadres last year did never see the daylight, as police filed only one final report and a charge sheet in those cases.
However, he noted, this time the government appears to be determined to root out the Islamist militancy.
Meanwhile, a number of ministers and senior BNP leaders yesterday expressed the view that from the steps taken against the two Islamist outfits and the ongoing arrests of militants it seems the government is under tremendous pressure and the militants are going out of control.
They censured the government for its inaction and indifference to the rise of fundamentalism for so long. They also regretted the fact that each time the government takes steps it is only after the situation gets to its worst and the image of Bangladesh is greatly impaired.
The leaders also said it would be wise for the prime minister to immediately remove those ministers and party leaders who backed JMJB Operations Commander Bangla Bhai and persuaded her not to take action against the militants in time.