Once ranked below Taliban, Shibir’s Dhaka University win raises security concerns for India

New Delhi: An Islamist student wing winning the Dhaka University Students Union elections for the first time since Bangladesh’s Independence in 1971 is a sign of how the nation is changing.

The elections were won by the Jamaat-e-Islami’s students wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) and the final tally showed that it bagged 9 out of the 12 seats. While winning and losing elections are part of the game, the concern is the organisation that came out tops. The ICS is the students wing of the ISI backed Jamaat, which is known for its radicalisation.

The ICS played the lead role in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina last August. The ICS was the third most active non-state armed group according a study that was conducted in 2013.

The survey was conducted by the IHS Jane’s Global Terrorism and Insurgency Attack Index. The survey placed the Taliban at the top, followed by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional of Thailand. The Shibir was named third on the list.

The ICS is known for being a violent outfit. In February 2013, following the pronouncement of the war crimes verdict against Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, the ICS cadres unleashed a wave of terror in different parts of the country.

The ICS has indulged in beating up policemen, setting ablaze public vehicles and properties, indulging in bomb blasts, uprooting railway tracks and felling trees. Further they incited communal tensions and even instigated religious violence especially against the minorities in Bangladesh.

This is a worrying development that has taken place in a neighbouring country The ICS is known to propagate in favour of a Sharia law. The win signals an influence of Islamist thought in Bangladesh’s institutions, which are gradually turning rigid.

The ICS and the Jamaat were banned when Sheikh Hasina was in power. One of the first decisions that caretaker of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus took after Hasina’s ouster was lift the ban.

When the Shibir was banned, the government had accused the outfit of indulging in rape, torture, harassment of students in dormitories and tender manipulation. It also stated that the ICS was involved in conspiratorial, destructive and provocative activities..

India has prepared multiple dossiers on this outfit and listed out how dangerous this group is. The group has members who are known sympathisers of terror groups. The lifting of this ban and the win in the elections is a win-win for the ISI, which calls the shots where the Jamaat is concerned.

The dossiers against the ICS says that it has secured a membership of the International Islamic Federation of Students Organisation. The ICS also maintains close ties with the ISI.

It has worked extensively to back a subversive agenda by the Islamists in several regions. The Intelligence agencies say that the outfit not just gets funds from the ISI, but even from some donors in Saudi Arabia. The agencies also point out that outfits operating in South Asia and Afghanistan get their activities carried out in Bangladesh by the ICS.

The ICS is also accused of helping terror groups in South Asia undertake recruitments and then indoctrinate them in following violent Jihad. It has aided terror groups in developing infrastructure for training. Further, the ICS has also set up camps and shelters to stock weapons and supplies for terror groups.

It also shares very close ties with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HuJI). The HuJI has been tasked specifically by the ISI to carry out terror attacks in northeast India and West Bengal.

The HuJi was the same outfit which was preparing bombs in Burdwan before the module was busted.

IANS