Assam to identify 'push factors' aiding fundamentalist terror groups

Police claim to have busted five 'modules' of Ansarullah Bangla Team and arrested at least 30 men and women since March

Following the "crackdown" launched in March this year against alleged network of "jihadi groups," police and intelligence agencies in Assam have been frequently referring to a video released in April last year, in which deceased al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri appealed to his "soldiers" to come to Assam.

In the video, Zawahiri had purportedly asked his "soldiers" to help the Muslims in Assam, who according to him, were in trouble. According to some, the global terror leader was referring to the alleged harassment to those left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Police claim to have busted five "modules" of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), based in neighbouring Bangladesh and arrested at least 30 men and women since March this year. They were allegedly involved in the network to indoctrinate Muslims in Assam to carry forward Zawahiri's appeal for "jihad" in Assam. ABT is a banned terror group in Bangladesh.

Police said they have arrested a Bangladesh national, Saiful Islam alias Mohammad Suman, and have launched a hunt for five other Bangladesh nationals, who are at still large.

Police sources in Assam, however, told DH that along with the operations to bust the other modules, they are also carrying out a "survey" to identify the "push factors" that helped global fundamentalist terror groups like al-Qaeda and ABT to penetrate into the state.

"Being a state with borders in Bangladesh, it it obvious that we may feel the heat of the developments in the neighbouring country," Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati, soon after a Madrasa teacher was arrested in central Assam's Morigaon district on July 27. He was allegedly involved with ABT. Sarma on August 4 said at least five modules of ABT have been busted in Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Morigaon districts, having sizeable Muslim population.

A police officer cited the history of "large scale" migration of Muslims from Bangladesh, long borders, some stretches still open and lack of development in the areas inhabited by the Muslims. "The terror groups are also using the sentiments against the NRC, which left out many Muslims. In some of the meetings, the issue of NRC was also discussed to cash in on the anger," he said. Assam shares 262-km borders with Bangladesh.

But a BJP leader stressed that the NRC was not aimed at Muslims only and half of those (19.06 lakh) left of the final list are Hindus.

Nearly 33 per cent of Assam's population are Muslims. Sarma on August 4 said that the drive against the "jihadis" should not be seen as something against the Muslims. "The drive against such groups is not new. The first such network was busted way back in 1999. But let me say today that our drive is not against the Muslims. In fact, we have been able to bust the ABT modules due to information provided by the peace-loving Muslims. They are trying to lure the highly educated and tech-savvy Muslim youths, and I am sure Muslims in Assam will not allow them to grow further," Sarma said.

In April this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over a case related to ABT and AQIS said that Saiful Islam, the Bangladesh national, who was arrested in Barpeta district, tried to set up a base of AQIS in eastern India. Islam had illegally entered India through Indo-Bangladesh borders in West Bengal and settled in Barpeta in Assam. He was working as an Arabic teacher in a local school.

Fear of propaganda

Opposition parties in Assam stressed that the drive against the terror groups should not be used for making propaganda against all Muslims. "The government should publish a white paper about the activities of the jihadi and those identified or already arrested so that the comments made by some leaders in the ruling party do not create a sense of fear among the Muslims in Assam," Congress leader in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia said.

Akhil Gogoi, Sivasagar MLA and leader of Raijor Dal, a regional party stated that the drive against the terror groups should not be used to divert attention from major issues like unemployment and price rise, which invited criticism to the BJP government.

Year - group busted in Assam

1999 - Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM)

2003-04 - Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI)

2011-12 - Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)

2015-16 - Hizbul Mujahideen

2018-2020 - Hizbul Mujahideen