When Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by out going Prime Minister Khalida Zia formed an alliance and coalition government with fundamentalist Jamat-e-Islami(Party of Islam) in 2001, very few people raised their eyebrows on this development. After 5 years of Jamat-BNP coalition rule, many in the west and at home are raising concerns about the rising tide of Islamic Fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Jamat-e-Islami used its influence as coalition partner to penetrate in the state institutions and appointed many of its key supporters and sympathizers in the key official posts. Army has been the prime target of this penetration. Two senior army officers linked with Jamat have been appointed to the key positions, Major general Muhammad Aminul Karim recently appointed military secretary to the President and Brigadier General ATM Amin as director of the Armed Forces Intelligence anti terrorism bureau. This penetration is also made in judiciary, education institutions, police and other government departments. Now the fundamentalists are enjoying support from the senior state officials and right wing politicians of BNP. Jamat has fully utilized the opportunity it got in last 5 years to increase its political and social influence. This process has much resemblance with the rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan in the 1980s, during the military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. Jamat-e-Islami Pakistan supported this military coup against the PPP government in 1977 and became political ally of the Zia dictatorship. JI leaders become ministers in the federal cabinet and they used their influence to penetrate in the armed forces, police, judiciary, education institutes and other government departments. JI used this position to attack the left wing students, political workers and trade union leaders. JI used its authority to appoint their supporters and members in the state institutions including the military. Many left wing students, trade union and political activists were killed. JI also used the state resources to finance and armed its militant groups. This is what exactly going on in Bangladesh in last 5 years.
This process was going on silently till last year; this silence was broken when some 500 bombs exploded simultaneously in 60 of the country’s 64 districts. Since then more than 54 people mostly left wing activists and intellectuals have been killed and 183 injured in the religiously motivated violence and target killings. There are at least 10 most active armed Islamic militant groups operating in very organized manner. The coalition government tried to hide this rise of extremist fundamentalist groups and continuously denied the existence of such groups, but these explosions exposed the lies and government was forced to take some sort of action against few groups. Many extremist groups are directly linked with Jamat-e-Islami, which used them to eliminate and intimidate the opponents. JI provides financial resources and political support to these groups. JI has significantly increased its financial base in last few years. JI fully utilized the portfolio of industries ministry to enhance its businesses. The JI economic empire embraces banking, insurance, trucking, pharmaceutical manufacturing, departmental stores, newspapers and TV stations. The businesses run and owned by fundamentalist outfits including JI earn profits of some 1.2billion US dollars annually.
There is also one other resemblance between this process and that was in Pakistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the big chunk of money provided by the Gulf States to these organization. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar are the main contributors to these organizations. In public this money paid to so-called Islamic charities to build religious schools, Mosques and preaching of Islam, but this money went to the extremist groups and religious parties to finance their activities.
BNP argues that coalition rule helps moderates in the Jamat-e-Islami to combat Islamic extremist factions. But the reality is that Jamat inroads in the government security machinery at all levels, starting with Home Secretary Muhammad Omar Farooq, widely regarded as close to Jamat, have opened the way for suicide bombings, political assassinations, harassment of Hindu minority and an unchecked influx of funds from Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf to Jamat oriented religious schools.
One arrested leader of Wahabi group, Asdullah Ghalib disclosed to the investigators that “the main task of his group was to kill and harass the left wing journalists and radical left wing teachers and university professors”. He also confessed to attack the several secular organizations and cultural centers. Few other arrested leaders and activists of several extremist groups have categorically said “we want to kill everybody who talks about secularism and specially Socialism. We will not allow such things in this country”. They also confessed that they have killed many radical left wing students, political workers and journalist.
This rise of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism is a real danger for the working class and Left activists. Jamat-e-Islami has a long history of violence against radical workers and Left. During the liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971, the JI supported the Pakistani military and killed hundreds of left wing activists, Awami League members and radical poets and intellectuals. JI was significantly weekend after these events, but it has strengthened itself in last decade. JI and other fundamentalist organizations are not really a direct threat to the US Imperialism, as the imperialist propaganda gives the impression. It is a direct threat to the trade union movement, leftwing radical student organizations, women rights activists, radical intellectuals, poets, writers and Socialist organizations. Islamic fundamentalism is a tool of repression in the hands of the reactionary rightwing ruling class, which uses these reactionary forces to crush the working class movements and organizations.
Working class in Bangladesh needs a real and genuine Socialist organization which can fight against this threat. Working class must organize itself to defend itself against this rising danger. Workers must setup defense committees at workplaces, factories and communities. Working class also needs a political party which can fight for their rights and interests. Working class is the only power which can defeat Islamic fundamentalism. The ruling classes have showed their inability and weakness against fundamentalism, and they can not defeat it.