By: Animesh Roul
Bangladesh’s most lethal home-grown militant organization, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen People's Republic of Bangladesh (JMB)—which has multiple ideological as well as operational factions, including the Islamic State (IS)-inspired neo-JMB as well as al-Qaeda linked centre Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JM)—has gained notoriety over the final few years for recruiting as well as nurturing a network of women militants. Despite robust counter-terrorism operations next the July 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attacks inwards the upper-case alphabetic lineament Dhaka, an alarming break of women are taking upwards the effort of militancy. The intermittent arrests as well as events involving JMB’s women operatives across the province as well as beyond inwards the final twosome of years get got perish a major headache for Bangladesh’s safety establishment.
Two cases inwards 2018 involving JMB’s woman mortal operatives made national as well as international headlines. In Feb 2018, ii sisters linked to the neo-JMB faction as well as inspired past times the IS’s jihadist ideals were arrested as well as charged for carrying out classify knife attacks inwards both Melbourne, Commonwealth of Australia as well as inwards Dhaka. On Feb 9, Momena Shoma, a Bangladeshi educatee enrolled to study linguistics at La Trobe University stabbed her homestay’s landlord Roger Singaravelu inwards the cervix to fulfil a moral obligation to the Islamic State’s telephone telephone for jihad (Sunday Morning Herald, Feb 14; Prothom Alo [Dhaka], September 21). Her sister, Asmaul Husna, carried out a similar knife assail targeting Dhaka Police’s Assistant Commissioner Tohidul Islam on Feb 12 when the local law officials were enquiring most the Melbourne incident as well as possible JMB-IS links (Daily Star, Feb 14). Both sisters were inwards their early on twenties as well as admitted to their neo-JMB links as well as IS inspiration during the next investigations.
In Bangladesh, myriad militant extremist groups such equally the JMB, Ansar al-Islam (formerly Ansarullah Bangla Team) as well as Hizbut Tahirir-Bangladesh (HT-B) get got been engaging women operatives by as well as large for religious teaching as well as equally supporting members similar couriers as well as informants. H5N1 novel tendency has been emerging since mid-2016, where women operatives are found to last carrying out tearing combat operations. One media justice suggested that past times Dec 2016, People's Republic of Bangladesh law had arrested at to the lowest degree xx women militants from dissimilar groups including JMB, amongst bear witness of a possible all-women suicide squad (The Independent, Dec 25, 2016).
Evidently, JMB is a pioneer inwards engaging women for jihadist activities that include suicide missions inwards add-on to supporting tasks. They fifty-fifty trained the women cadres to utilisation paw grenades as well as knives. Between July as well as September 2016, Bangladeshi regime arrested simply about 12 women JMB operatives. [1] In early on September 2016, the detective branch of the People's Republic of Bangladesh law arrested 4 woman mortal members of JMB belonging to a suicide grouping from the Kazipur expanse of Sirajganj district. They were arrested inwards the solid of senior JMB leader, Faridul Islam, piece asset a coming together to hash out the recruitment of novel women cadres to comport out tearing attacks (Poriborton News, September 5, 2016).
After ii months investigating the suicide bombing conspiracy, People's Republic of Bangladesh law encountered an actual woman mortal suicide bomber for the starting fourth dimension time. In slow Dec 2016, Shakira, a woman mortal neo-JMB fellow member detonated her suicide vest during a search as well as sweep performance inwards a JMB rubber solid located inwards the Ashkona expanse of Dhaka piece feigning give upwards (New Nation, Oct 18). The irony is that these ii woman mortal operatives had been arrested earlier, inwards mid-2016, nether suspicion of beingness involved inwards militant activities, but were subsequently released equally the investigating means could non institute their militant links.
Like Khadija as well as Israt, many others were released from custody before without whatsoever charges. Later, the law found that several woman mortal operatives who had been released were becoming involved inwards these subversive activities. Cases such equally this demonstrate law enforcement agencies’ lenient mental attitude toward woman mortal suspects, which is normally exploited past times the JMB.
Interrogations amongst several women operatives suggested that they bring upwards a specific anger against the Bangladeshi safety forces. One of the apprehended militants, Aklima Rahman, confessed to having been trained to target Bangladeshi law as well as the elite Rapid Action Battalion. During the training, she learned how the safety agencies arrested jihadists as well as tortured their manly mortal counterparts inwards custody as well as how to avenge those acts.
It is non clear, however, whether the women cadres are pressured into next their husbands, lovers as well as brothers already waging jihad inwards the province as well as beyond, or if they are voluntarily attracted to Islamist ideals. While the law versions force a narrative of coercion as well as forced recruitment, the Feb 2018 knife attacks involving sibling sisters illustrated a dissimilar motion painting of private motivation, without cloth assistance or moral force from the neo-JMB.
It is likewise found that neo-JMB recruited women from beyond their established household unit of measurement networks. The grouping focused on recruiting those amongst moderate educational background as well as who belonged to elite schools as well as universities. For example, the 3 woman mortal members of the neo-JMB— Aklima Rahman Moni, Khadija Parveen Megna, as well as Ishrat Jahan—who were arrested on August 15, 2016, were students of Manarat International University inwards Dhaka. Khadija Akhtar as well as Ishrat Jahan were arrested in 1 lawsuit again inwards Oct this twelvemonth from Madhabdi inwards Narsingdi district. Another fellow member arrested simply about the same fourth dimension was Istishna Afroz Oishee, an intern at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Similarly, the sisters involved inwards the knife attacks inwards Feb this twelvemonth are likewise good educated as well as belong to affluent families of Bangladesh. The main financier as well as recruiter of the neo-JMB, Humaira Jakir Nanvi, was an alumnus of the North South University (NSU) as well as had been educated inwards Malaysia equally good (Daily-Sun, Apr 9).
Unlike the old, centre JMB, the neo-JMB faction went a footstep farther inwards recruiting woman mortal militants past times romanticizing the concepts of jihad, unusual fighters as well as martyrdom. The novel moving ridge of recruitment as well as indoctrination of woman mortal militants into the bend materialized virtually through the utilisation of diverse social media platforms such equally Facebook, WhatsApp as well as other encrypted social media applications similar Threema as well as Telegram (Daily Star, August 20, 2016).
While the participation of women inwards militant violence inwards the subcontinent (Indian Kashmir as well as Sri Lanka) is non completely unusual, People's Republic of Bangladesh began witnessing this tendency inwards 2004 when the JMB centre established a dedicated women’s branch. This so-called “sister branch”—under the guidance of the wives of the peak leaders of JMB—was by as well as large responsible for daawa activities (proselytization) as well as religious teachings. Between Feb as well as Apr 2009, safety officials inwards People's Republic of Bangladesh arrested nearly 25 suspected JMB woman mortal militants who were subsequently released from custody without whatsoever charges. These women arrestees never admitted to beingness a purpose of the JMB but were household unit of measurement members as well as relatives of JMB’s manly mortal operatives (Daily Star, Feb 21, 2009; Indian Express, Apr 23, 2009). Bangladeshi agencies, however, admitted that prior to these arrests, they did non get got whatsoever bear witness that JMB had a adult woman fly or trained woman mortal members.
Certainly, the traditional women’s roles inwards Islamic militancy inwards the province get got evolved dangerously over the final few years. Young girls get got joined the rank as well as file of jihadist organizations as well as get got redefined their purpose inwards groups similar the neo-JMB. With effective woman mortal combat units along the lines of al-Qaeda inspired jihadist sisterhood or Islamic State’s “jihadist brides” (or for that affair Al-Khansaa brigade), the increasing tendency of woman mortal participation inwards militancy or Islamic jihad inwards People's Republic of Bangladesh is probable to accept a novel plough inwards the coming years.
NOTES
[1] Author’s estimation based on local media reports.
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