JEI on rampage in Bangladesh

 In a well orchestrated smear campaign the JEI and its adherents branded the Shahbag protesters as atheists and utilized the Friday Jumma prayers to whip up religious sentiments against them. Ganojagoron Manchas (Mass awakening platforms), from where demands are being made for capital punishment to war criminals, became their targets of vandalism. They were openly brandishing guns, burning national flag and desecrating Shaheed Minars to send a warning that hanging senior JEI leaders and banning the party would not be accepted lying low and these would lead to uncontrollable chaos and anarchy..

Desecration of national flag and Shaheed Minar are telling revelations of what JEI and its associates stand for. By burning national flag and defiling Martyrs Memorials just after ‘Ekushey February’ celebrations they seem to send out the message that Bangladesh does not have the right to exist as an independent country.

Since the murder of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, JEI enjoyed patronage of the ruling clique for two decades. Later, it became a constituent of Four Party Alliance government (2001-06). During all these years, mentioning Pakistan and its army as perpetrators of genocide and rape was not permitted. As dismantling the state of Bangladesh to make it a part of Pakistan would not be feasible or acceptable to the people, the party’s agenda was to revert Bangladesh to make it an unofficial federation of Pakistan. Emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 as an independent country by dismembering Pakistan remains‘dishonour’ and ‘unpalatable truth’ the party finds well nigh impossible to accept.

It may be noted that anti-Bangladesh activities of the party’s former chief Ghulam Azam continued even after emergence of Bangladesh and he formed ‘Purba Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee’ (East Pakistan Retrieval Committee) in London in 1972. He also continued to campaign extensively to mobilize international opinion against Bangladesh and its recognition in the Muslim world.

Ever since the emergence of Bangladesh, the party knew that the war crimes trial was an inevitability that it will have to face some day or the other. It is well aware that the ongoing war crimes trial will decimate the party and the noose would soon tighten around the JEI top brass. To thwart this possibility it is now desperately seeking to remain as an established political party which aims to reach its objective of ‘a real Islamic Bangladesh’. The party has assiduously built up a huge corpus over the years. JEI will need these funds for a continued stand-off with the government to force the latter to abandon holding of the war crimes trial. The party has also been mobilizing all the religion based militant groups to let loose destabilizing forces across the country. JEI has a plan to indulge in serious violence in the country as the party has been pressed against the wall and facing a ‘do or die’ situation.

The party has, over the years, built up huge resources that generate substantial income. An estimate worked out by Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University in 2005 shows JEI generating a net profit of Tk 1200 Crore annually from its economic activities in different sectors including financial institutions, transport, health, education and NGOs. The main brain behind JEI’s financial and business group is Mir Quasem Ali, one of the founders of the infamous Al Badar militia which was directly involved in the killings of 1971. Presently Ali is facing trial on war crimes charges.

While JEI’s earnings from internal resources is slated to be higher than income from its overseas assets, most of the leading institutions generating this fund are closely connected with organizations and individuals based in West Asia and Gulf.

The Islami Bank of Bangladesh which ranks among the top three banks of south Asia is floated from Saudi Arabia and has about 60% of its shares owned by Saudi individuals and institutions. The bank is associated with Al Razee Bank of Saudi Arabia. It was started in 1975 at the initiative of the then Saudi Ambassador in Dhaka Fuad Abdullah Al Khatib and his wife. Apart from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar are also share holders of this bank. While the Islami Bank constitutes the backbone of JEI’s finances, there are 14 other banks in Bangladesh controlled by the JEI. Other important JEI managed financial institutions in Bangladesh include the recently established Far Eastern Islami Insurance Corporation and the Islamic Bank Foundation.

The Saudi based Islamic NGO, Rabeta-al-Alam-al-Islami is also one of the important sources of JEI funding. Other NGOs funding the JEI include Kuwait Relief Fund and Al Nahiyan Trust of UAE. The funds are received from these NGOs mainly through the JEI controlled financial and charity institutions. An important charity organization of the JEI is Al Hera Samaj Kalyan Foundation founded in 1982. Its activities include preaching Islam, publication of religious books and journals, running madrasas, orphanages, charitable dispensaries, disbursing loans and assistance to the poor. It also distributes books on Islamic resurgence and scriptures among the people free of cost and makes promises of a renaissance through Islam. The Foundation is also engaged in manpower export by arranging employment in the Gulf and West Asia. JEI has around 30 such institutions.

The JEI sponsored Association of Muslim Welfare Agencies of Bangladesh (AMWAB) has more than 350 NGOs operating in the rural areas across the country with the avowed objective of upliftment of the rural poor by undertaking various social welfare activities such as digging up well in areas adversely affected due to water scarcity and providing unemployed youth with interest free loan to generate self employment. Apart from propagating and preaching Islam in the rural areas, these NGO workers have been noticed distributing books on Islamic resurgence among the devout Muslims in the mosque premises after Friday prayers and making promises to them of an Islamic renaissance in Bangladesh.

The establishment of financial institutions provides JEI an opportunity to launder money from abroad and also channel unaudited funds to other Islamic groups controlled by it. Funding to the militant organizations from abroad comes mainly through JEI controlled Islamic financial institutions. Ahle Hadis Andolan Bangladesh (AHAB) chief Prof. Ghalib was one of the main conduits for receiving and distributing funds from abroad to other such radical groups.

The JEI owns a number of publishing houses, newspapers and a think-tank, the Center for Strategic and Peace Studies (CSPS). Its daily Naya Diganta which was established in 2005 with a corpus of Tk 100 Crore is currently one of the largest circulated dailies in the country. The Daily Sangram, JEI mouthpiece, is also one of the oldest dailies in the country. JEI backed publishers include Adhunik Prokashoni, Shatabdi Prokashoni etc. It also publishes magazines like Youth Voice, booklets and Islamic literature regularly and sells them to generate funds

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The JEI has also made inroads in the education sector. The Islamic Training Centers which train the youth in low level technical skills such as electronic repairs, car repairs etc are important instruments of JEI propaganda machine. The Darul Islam Coaching Centers that have establishments in all the sixty four districts of the country have also sponsored private universities including the International Islamic Univeristy in Chittagong which was established with financial assistance from the Saudi based International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO). Education in the Darul Islam Centers lays stress on technical skills which provide employment to the youth. These institutions play a crucial role in strengthening JEI’s network among the student community in a planned manner to expand its influence apart from generating huge finances for the party.

Apart from its business earnings JEI has been receiving funds from organizations like the Qatar Charitable Society and UK based NGOs including Institute of Islamic Political Thought and Muslim Aid, UK. Money is received through many covert channels including Hundi. Resalah Courier Service is exclusively used for channeling money to JEI.

While the Bangladesh authorities have recently observed that the financial sector needed to be scrutinized and monitored in view of terrorist funding and money laundering issues, the JEI stands as a party with significant financial resources which enables its NGOs to penetrate the society at large, especially the lower middle class and the poor. The party hopes that this section of people will come forward to its rescue when the war crimes tribunal commences giving verdicts in respect of its senior leaders. However this has not happened.  JEI seems well prepared to meet the challenge posed by the Government’s decision to bring the war criminals of 1971 to justice and more violence is expected.