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| Bangladesh |
| Bangla hard boyz maintain vast NGO network for financing purposes |
| 2006-01-07 |
| Any organisation having mission of waging an arms-struggle with its countrywide grassroots level network and thousands of workers needs huge funding, reports BDNews. Apart from spreading their organisational network, the Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh, also amassed huge fund during their clandestine activities since its inception. Although JMB kingpin Shaekh Abdur Rahman comes from a upper middle class family but did not have any known source of huge income needed for operating a militant organisation like JMB, while the members of Majlish-e-Shura also the members of lower middle class families. Besides, the activists and supporters recruited mainly from Madrasa students are from poor families. They have no ability to provide huge funds required for meeting the costs of the activists in the payroll, procurement of arms and ammunition and their travel costs. According to sources, thousands of full-time JMB members (Ehsar) are in the pay roll and used to get Tk 2000-5000 per month. The JMB was learnt to have recruited about 2000 members in their suicide squad who were promised to be given Tk 50 thousand per family. Maulana Abdul Latif, publicity secretary of grilled Dr Asadullah Al Galib-led Ahle Hadith Andolan, said some Islamic NGOs and financial institutions provided money to the militant organisation. There are some 200 Islamic NGOs registered with the Social Welfare Affairs Department. Of them, about 34 Islamic NGOs are registered under the NGO Affairs Bureau who got fund from abroad. According to sources, after getting the Social Welfare Ministry, Jamaat gave registration to huge Islamic NGOs operating in remote areas. Abu Taher, MP, former president of Islami Chhatra Shibir, was the first general secretary of the World Young Muslim Association (WYMA). The organisation was black listed by the USA for providing money to the militants in Bangladesh. The WYMA is also blamed for supplying funds to different madrasas reportedly the breeding grounds of militants. Besides these, the Rabeta al Islami is also accused and Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) were also blamed for providing money to militants. The Kuwait-based Al Haramain had to wrap up its activities for their alleged link with the militancy. On September 12, the law enforcers detained RIHS's director Akramuzzaman and interrogated him but later released him a day after. According to sources, after the nationwide August 17 bomb blasts the intelligence agencies beefed up vigilance on the movement and activities of the RIHS, a non-government organisation funded by Kuwait and other Middle East countries. Sources said, police and different other agencies also were looking for the activities, funding, the sources of funds and the way of distribution of funds of RIHS located at House 40, section –7 of Lake drive road In Uttara. Police also detained Ikra Bangladesh chief Moulana Masud for receiving fund from abroad for funding the militants. On December 1 last year, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda at a seminar said that the Islamic NGOs are battling suspicion over their links with terrorism. "Some NGOs' involvement in terrorist financing has led to the such thinking," he said while speaking at a seminar on building partnership between Muslim NGOs and the international community. He also said that little control over the organisations, lack of transparency in their financial statements and weak governance had resulted in creating bad impression. Addressing the seminar, State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharraf Hossain Shahjahan expressed dissatisfaction over the activities of some Islamic NGOs working in Bangladesh, as they are interested to build mosques rather to work for reducing poverty. "I was an activist of Chhatra Shibir from where I joined the HuJI-B and went to Kashmir at the invitation of Lasker-e-Taiyeba," said Saif (a pseudonym), who is now in prison. "Like Saif, hundreds of activists of Shibir, who used to cut tendons of opponents, joined the JMB and HuJI-B," said Maulana Abdul Latif, publicity secretary of Ahle Hadith Andolan. Saif along with 25 other Bangladeshi youths, went to Indian Kashmir when he was an activist of HuJI-B. He gave interview to BDNews at Baipail in Savar on October 10 and 13 on condition that his real name will not be disclosed. According to police sources, JMB suicide squad member Mamun, who conducted attack on judges in Jhalakathi, was also the activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir. Arrested Shamim, chief of IT wing of JMB, is a son of a Jamaat leader in Sylhet. Regional JMB Commander of Khulna division Sabbir Ahmed is also a Shibir leader. Besides, many other suspected JMB activists now in detention are also the members of the student wing of Jammat. Besides Jamaat, the Islami Oikya Jote also made tie with the HuJI since 1992. The then IOJ leaders Maulana Ahmad ullah Ashraf, principal of Kamrangirchhar madrasa and Maulana Habibur Rahman of Sylhet, in separate interviews with BDNEWS admitted that they went to Afghanistan and fought against Soviet invasion in late 80s at the invitation of Talibans. "I went to Karachi in 1989 when I was the chief of Khelafat Andolan. There, I was introduced with the then Mujahid Commandar Abdur Rasul Syed. Following his (Rasul) invitation I joined the Afghan war," said Maulana Ashraf. Maulana Ashraf also said that like his son Rahmatullah, who was killed in Afghan War in 1988, hundreds of youths from Bangladesh had joined the Afghan war. According to police sources, the militants made the plan of nationwide bombings on mid April last year. Grilled JMB militants disclosed this to the law enforcers. The sources also said that some Islamic NGOs and an Imam of a UK mosque provided the money to the militants. Before the bombings, the militants held separate preparatory meetings at Naogaon, Joypurhat, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Chittagong, Barisal, Satkhira and Dhaka. The date of nationwide bombings was finalised after the visit of Ataur Rahman, imam of a mosque in UK and also the director of Ahle Hadith Library and Information Centre in Nageswari in Kurigram. He held meeting with Shaekh Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai several times, sources said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Nice to know what the NGOs are actually good for. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-01-07 01:34 |