JMJB firm on attacks to herald revolution

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Arrested activist confesses to magistrate
Our Correspondent, Bogra

The Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) is determined to carry out attacks on all forms of 'anti-Islamic' activities until an Islamic revolution comes to the country, an arrested JMJB operative told a magistrate on Monday evening.

A band of trained members are scattered across the country with a mission to bomb various cultural programmes, including a Valentine's Day programme, said a source, adding that JMJB considers such activities a violation of Islamic Shariah.

He, however, refused to speculate whether Monday's bomb attacks on the Valentine's Day party at Dhaka University was carried out by JMJB.

The JMJB operative, Shafiqullah, arrested with explosives from another operative's house on January 16, also revealed, during a statement given to the First Class Magistrate Mostafijur Rahman Mirda, details about a teacher of Rajshahi University (RU) who is allegedly leading JMJB operations.

"Dr Asadullah Al Galib, a teacher of the Arabic department of RU, is engaged with JMJB and is leading them to undertake an Islamic revolution," said Shafiqullah.

Dr Asadullah denied a similar allegation made by Bangla Bhai operatives in Natore, saying it was an attempt to frame him.

Shafiqullah, also a member of the JMJB bomb squad, said he was introduced to the RU teacher Asadullah as well as JMJB chief Abdur Rahman Shahi Bhai at an Islamic occasion at a graveyard in Narayanganj.

The three discussed many operations of JMJB including the training for carrying out bomb attacks on cultural programmes.

Many hard-liners of the Ahleh Hadis, an ultra-militant Islamist group, also took training in Narayanganj, he added.

"I was also introduced to Joynal of Gabtoli in Bogra, who was also present at the Islamic occasion. I often go there for training," said Shafiqullah.

He was also introduced to Hamid, a student of the Arabic department at RU and an active member in such operations, he told the magistrate.

He also said JMJB operatives had often held meetings at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and the Kakrail Mosque, where they discussed many plans of action.

"We use bombs that will injure people but not kill them," he added.

The RU teacher and JMJB chief also impart training to youths in the hopes of sending fighters to Iraq and Afghanistan, Shafiqullah added.

Many students undertook training for Islamic revolution in different parts of the country, he added.

He said Shahi Bhai is the chief of JMJB with Bangla Bhai (Siddiqur Rahman) his commander of operations.

In Natore, our staff correspondent reports, seven of the 12 Jama'atul Mujahidin members in their confessional statements to a magistrate on Monday also confirmed that the chief of Bangla Bhai is their leader too.

They also confessed to their involvement with the Islamic movement spearheaded by Dr Asadullah.

Police and court sources said that Farman Ali, one of the arrestees, admitted that he was one of the leaders of Jama'atul Mujahidin at Natore.

He said he joined the group during Ramadan at the invitation of Khabbar Ali, ameer of the Mujahidin in Natore district. Dr Galib is the leader in the northern region of the country, he added.
-Dailystar

[rafiq]

There seems to be a lot of people who support groups like the JMJB. They get up in arms when they read articles like these. Wonder if they have any comments?

[oracle]

Rafiq

I really would'nt get too worked up about these groups. They are created to distract attention from the daily real life situation of the of the working poor, or shall we say the not-working poor.

If you are a keen reader of history just ponder this- did'nt the British in their empires create all sorts of groups too? I mean groups that had peculiar political, religious theories and agendas. Why did they do it? Think about it for 20 minutes.

And usually these groups and ideas sprang up in times of real economic distress. More to come...