'On the Ground': Bangladesh

Some time in late June, a national level women's wresting competition was canceled after authorities received threats from an extremist group denouncing the sport as inappropriate for Muslim women. There had been no problem with the local level competitions and the participants insisted they were dressed modestly for the event. Women's swimming competitions have continued without any protests.
See The Daily Star (DS), Dhaka, July 7, 2004

On May 11, some one attempted to poison the 600 sacred turtles attached to an important Sufi shrine in the port city of Chittagong. The turtles were removed to a different location while the pond water was purified. In July the turtles were returned to their abode safely. Some people claim disputes over shrine finances between rival caretakers led the attempted poisoning.
See DS, July 10, 2004

Several Dhaka University teachers have received death threats in the recent past. On June 28, two organizations, the Nastik Murtad (Atheist Apostate) Resistance Committee and the Muslim Millat Shariah Council, in a faxed message sent to different newspaper offices in Dhaka threatened with death three DU professors: Humayan Azad of the Bangla dept., Muntasir Mamun of the history dept. and M. M. Akash from Economics. The groups threatened to kill the three if they did not "purify" themselves by September. Others who have already received death threats include Maran Chand of the Dept. of Fine Arts, Mamun Ahmed of Biology and Runa Laila of Women's Studies.

Notably, Humayun Azad, a senior Professor in the Bangla department was attacked by unknown miscreants in February. He barely escaped with his life, had to be hospitalized for a long time, (including a period in a Bangkok hospital at government cost), and has yet to fully recover.

Prof. Azad had been receiving death threats since November of the preceding year, following the publication of a novel that he wrote as a critique of the increasing Islamization/Pakistanization of Bangladesh.

The book did not make much of a ripple in literary circles, despite being serialized in a Bengali daily. However, some Islamist groups claimed the book was anti-Islamic and a member of the ruling coalition demanded the govt. ban the book, a request that was ignored.
See July 12 DS Report

Ten prominent politicians, intellectuals and journalists received death threats distributed in a circular, from an Islamist group, Mujahideen al Islam, accusing them of acting against Islam. In the circular, the group allegedly labeled the 10 prime enemies of Islam and blamed them for preventing the "reconstitution" of Pakistan. Two days earlier, 22 journalists (16 in Sylhet district, where earlier the Bangladeshi-born British High Commissioner had been injured in a bomb attack, allegedly to protest Britain's involvement in the Iraq occupation) were sent similar threats.

Note: Typical of the situation in Bangladesh, public opinion is deeply divided on the "facts." Some people (mainly but not only from the ruling coalition of BNP/Jamaat) claim the death threats are manufactured by the professors, etc. themselves, either to bring national or international attention on themselves or as a ploy to discredit the govt., either way taking advantage of international anti-Islamic hysteria. Others (usually supporters of the supposedly more secular opposition party the Awami League) are convinced that creeping fundamentalism is the most serious problem facing Bangladesh today.

Assessing the situation with any degree of accuracy is a treacherous task, if one wants to avoid the minefield of highly polarized partisan politics. While one does not wish to overstate the case, the current government's coalition partnership with Islamist parties does have a bearing on its rhetoric and responses. The stabbing of Humayun Azad was not imagined or self-manufactured. Typically, by refusing to act until the very last minute (if at all), at the least, the government is complicit if not directly responsible for the current environment of fear and insecurity.
Difficulties in analyzing the course of events are compounded by the increasingly blurred lines between criminalization and communalization, in the context of a weak and corrupt state complicit in the criminalization of politics, and a coalition government unwilling to defend basic human rights, if that means offending Islamist coalition partners.

The overnight emergence of the vigilante group, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and the rumors swirling around their origins, is a case in point.

The JMJB has been terrorizing communities in the areas under its control. Its stated aim is to rid the northern districts of left wing extremist groups known for their own terrorizing tactics and extortionary practices. It is common knowledge that these smaller groups all have godfathers in the two main opposition parties, without whose support they would easily be captured and jailed by now.

Presumably, the same holds for the JMJB. The main rumors are 1) this is a turf war in which a new "gang" is trying to establish supremacy in the locality 2) the group has been created/nurtured by some members of the ruling coalition who are using it to eliminate their political rivals by labeling the latter as leftwing extremists. 3) the JMJB is an "organic" organization with ties to international Islamist groups, especially the Taliban. None of these are mutually exclusive explanations.

JMJB atrocities have been carried out in the name of establishing an Islamic state. Their leader claims to be inspired by the Taliban.