New Delhi, February 14 – The conclusion of the Bangladeshi elections has come as a major relief, not only for the people of the neighboring country, but also for India. However, Indian agencies are closely monitoring the areas where Jamaat-e-Islami achieved major victories along the border with West Bengal.
Relations with Bangladesh had essentially come to a standstill under Muhammad Yunus, and now with Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) set to take over as Prime Minister, New Delhi is confident that relations will be restored.
However, Jamaat-e-Islami secured 70 seats, and worryingly, a majority of these are along the border with West Bengal. Although they also won a few seats along the border with Meghalaya, this is a smaller number compared to their performance along the border with West Bengal.
An official from the Intelligence Bureau says that this is a major concern for security agencies. Jamaat and its supporters have always focused on large-scale illegal immigration into India through West Bengal.
Moreover, with the West Bengal elections around the corner, Jamaat is likely to use all its resources to disrupt law and order in the Indian state.
Another concern is that there are a significant number of Hindus who are minorities and live in these areas where Jamaat has won. Jamaat may intensify its efforts to target them, although in their manifesto, they have assured the Hindus of safety and protection, the official added.
While this is the best performance that Jamaat has achieved in all the elections it has fought so far, it still seemed bitter 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 Jamaat has performed best in areas that share a border with India.
Another official said that ahead of the West Bengal elections, Jamaat is likely to step up its efforts to facilitate illegal immigration. This is being done with the aim of creating demographic changes ahead of the elections so that the situation becomes communally volatile, the official added.
Over the years, Jamaat has cultivated these constituencies, which largely lie in rural Bangladesh. Madrasas have sprung up in these areas, very close to West Bengal. Intelligence agencies have repeatedly flagged these Madrasas, stating that they are used to facilitate illegal immigration and are hubs for radicalization and recruitment.
Officials say that not all Madrasas are active at all times. Some are activated when something major is being planned, and there are Intelligence inputs that clearly state these Madrasas are set to get operational again.
Under the Muhammad Yunus regime, radicals and even terrorists had a field day. 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 Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) were released when Yunus was at the helm. These terrorists were tasked by the ISI to create splinter groups and deploy them in areas that border 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 is being circulated on encrypted messaging channels.
The agencies have also picked up information that apart from groups such as HuJI and JMB, even operatives of Al-Qaeda in the subcontinent are part of this operation.