B’desh Jamaat’s electoral surge near frontier triggers vigil before WB polls

New Delhi: The completion of the Bangladesh elections has come as a major relief not only for the people of the neighbouring country but for India as well. However, Indian agencies are closely watching the areas in which the Jamaat-e-Islami registered major victories along the West Bengal border.

Ties with Bangladesh had literally come to a standstill under Muhammad Yunus, and now with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) Tarique Rahman set to take over as Prime Minister, New Delhi is confident that ties will be reset.

However, the Jamaat-e-Islami ended up with 70 seats, and worryingly, a majority of them are along the West Bengal border. Though it has also won a few seats along the border with Meghalaya, that is a smaller number when compared to how it performed along the border with West Bengal.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that the border dispute is a major concern for the security agencies. The Jamaat and its stooges always focused on large-scale illegal immigration into India through West Bengal.

Furthermore, as the West Bengal elections approach, the Jamaat is poised to exert all its power to undermine law and order in the Indian state.

Another worry is that there are many Hindus who are in a minority who live in these areas where the Jamaat has won. The Jamaat may step up efforts to target them, although in their manifesto, they assured the Hindus of safety and protection, the official added.

Despite its best election performance, the Jamaat was still upset after the results were announced. They questioned the fairness with which the votes were counted.

They are visibly upset and will look to disrupt peace, especially in those areas where they are strong. This could affect border security, as the Jamaat has performed best in areas that share a border with India.

Another official said that ahead of the West Bengal elections, the Jamaat is likely to step up illegal immigration efforts. The official added that the Jamaat is doing this to instigate demographic changes ahead of the elections, which could potentially lead to communal instability.

Over the years, the Jamaat has cultivated these constituencies, which largely lie in rural Bangladesh. Madrasas have come up in large numbers in these areas very close to West Bengal. The intelligence agencies have time and again flagged many of these madrasas, stating that they facilitate illegal immigration and are radicalisation and recruitment hubs.

Officials say that not all Madrasas function at all times. Some are activated when something major is planned, and intelligence inputs say these Madrasas will be operational again.

The Muhammad Yunus regime provided a fertile ground for radicals and terrorists alike. Scores of them were released from jail and have been on the loose since then. Many terrorists who are part of terror groups such as the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) were released when Yunus was at the helm. The ISI tasked these terrorists with creating splinter groups and deploying them in areas bordering India.

There are many operatives who have been sent to the border areas, and they are waiting for instructions to strike in India. The ISI would want the strikes to happen during the West Bengal election process. The agencies are already picking up plenty of chatter online about the possible West Bengal operations. Scores of radical propaganda are being circulated on encrypted messaging channels.

The agencies have also picked up information that, apart from groups such as the HuJI and JMB, even operatives of Al-Qaeda in the subcontinent are part of this operation. (IANS)

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