Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
The shadow of terrorism looms larger over Bangladesh as Islamist-jihadist students, reportedly loyal to Muhammad Yunus, escalate their plans to form an armed militia under the banner of the “Islamic Revolutionary Army”. Spearheaded by the ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’, this alarming development signals a potential shift towards militant radicalization, threatening not only the stability of Bangladesh but also the security of neighboring India and the broader South Asian region. Backed by external forces, including Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and inspired by destabilizing tactics used elsewhere, this movement could mark the onset of a dangerous era in regional geopolitics.
Bangladesh, under the leadership of Trump-hater Muhammad Yunus, appears to be veering towards becoming a terrorist nation, thereby posing significant security threats to neighboring India, the region, and the world. According to a Facebook post by the ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’, funded and patronized by Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George Soros, the organization plans to begin forming an ‘Islamic Revolutionary Army’ starting December 20, 2024. The group has called upon youths to report to the playground of Dhaka University at 8 a.m. on the designated day.
In the announcement, Ashikur Rahman Jim of the ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’ stated that initial three-day martial arts training would be provided to selected members, followed by a month-long “military training conducted by army and paramilitary forces”.
This move mirrors the infamous success of the CIA’s plot to destabilize the Russia-backed government in Ukraine, where student rebels formed a militia that wreaked havoc on the state’s infrastructure, destroyed the police force, and carried out brutal acts of violence against Russian-speaking populations. Similarly, Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is attempting to replicate this strategy in Bangladesh by forming a student militia aimed at targeting Hindus, religious minorities, and India, with the ultimate goal of turning Bangladesh into a failed state akin to Pakistan.
Highly credible sources reveal that at least five officers of the Pakistani military’s Special Services Group (SSG) arrived in Dhaka in November 2024, traveling through Dubai and Qatar. Their mission: to train members of the ‘Islamic Revolutionary Army’. While the SSG is not ranked among the world’s elite commando forces, it has gained notoriety for providing specialized training to terrorist organizations.
Established in 1955 and based in Tarbela, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the SSG is known by its aliases “Black Storks” and “Maroon Berets”. Intelligence sources indicate that the SSG began training 300 operatives from Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) in September 2023, using facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. These operatives, transported to Pakistan in batches, often crossed borders through Bangladesh and India. The operation was directly coordinated by ISI.
The ISI’s intensified covert operations include training and deploying HuT operatives to destabilize South Asia. Reports indicate militants have infiltrated India and Bangladesh under various disguises, aiming to establish sleeper cells and spread radical ideologies. The deployment of HuT operatives represents a calculated strategy to undermine regional stability.
A member of Pakistan’s ruling Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Irshad Ahmed Khan, admitted on a prominent Indian broadcast network that Pakistan smuggles weapons concealed in commercial goods sent to Bangladesh via direct vessels from Karachi Port. In a parallel development, Pakistan recently declared its intention to send 25,000 metric tons of sugar to Bangladesh.
However, credible intelligence suggests that this is a cover for smuggling large quantities of heroin, cocaine, and synthetic opioids. These drugs are expected to infiltrate Indian markets, exacerbating the country’s drug abuse crisis and furthering Pakistan’s destabilization agenda.
The implications of this narcotics trade are far-reaching. Indian communities, particularly the youth, face heightened risks of addiction and social instability. Furthermore, these illicit substances could be rerouted to Western nations via Indian intermediaries, complicating global anti-drug efforts.
Intercepted drug consignments could also damage India’s reputation, inviting stricter scrutiny of its exports and harming its economic and trade relationships. Such outcomes align with Pakistan’s broader goal of destabilizing its neighbor while profiting from the lucrative drug trade.
Taking advantage of the withdrawal of previous security clearance requirements for Pakistani nationals entering Bangladesh, ISI has facilitated the infiltration of militants from groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). These individuals enter under various disguises, including traders, tourists, and members of the Tablighi Jamaat. ISI has also begun sending trained HuT operatives into India.
Counterterrorism experts note that HuT has been active in Bangladesh since the 1980s, infiltrating colleges, universities, and even civil and military administrations. This growing influence poses a severe threat to regional stability.
Dipanjan Chakraborty, a former National Security Guard (NSG) official, has raised alarms about the presence of numerous sleeper cells in West Bengal. He emphasized the role of organized rackets that assist infiltrators in obtaining Indian identity documents, such as Aadhaar cards and ration cards. Meanwhile, in Tripura, over 1,400 Muslim infiltrators were arrested in September 2024 alone.
A well-organized network from Myanmar’s Arakan State is supplying automatic rifles and other arms to Bangladeshi terrorist groups. Allegations also implicate retired and dismissed officers of the Bangladesh Army in supplying weapons to Ansarullah Bangla Team (now rebranded as Ansar al-Islam) and HuT operatives.
ISI has exploited the discontent within Bihari camps across Bangladesh to foster anti-Hindu and anti-India sentiments. These camps, notorious for illegal activities, have become hubs for ISI-funded initiatives, distributing food and essentials to gain loyalty while airing jihadist propaganda. By mid-2024, over 5,000 trained Biharis had been deployed across Bangladesh, with their numbers surging to 50,000 by late July. Armed with explosives and automatic weapons, these militants launched attacks on police stations, organized jailbreaks, and looted armories.
Jashimuddin Rahmani, leader of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), has been instrumental in recruiting Biharis and forming sleeper cells in Indian states. His connections with Rohingya militants and terror outfits in Jammu and Kashmir further highlight the regional security threat emanating from Bangladesh’s Bihari camps.
Rahmani’s militia, reportedly supported by Pakistan Army funding, is also running a cyber regiment targeting social media accounts critical of Islamist ideologies. Recently, they succeeded in taking down the Facebook page of Mayukh Ranjan Ghosh, a prominent Indian journalist, by filing false copyright claims.
The formation of the ‘Islamic Revolutionary Army’ and the growing influence of radical groups in Bangladesh pose an existential threat to regional peace and stability. With ISI’s covert support and the active participation of extremist factions, the region faces a multifaceted challenge that demands immediate international attention and decisive action. Failure to address these developments could have catastrophic implications not only for South Asia but for global security as well.
The reported creation of the “Islamic Revolutionary Army” underlines an escalating threat that transcends national boundaries, calling for urgent international intervention. Bangladesh, a nation already grappling with extremist undercurrents, risks becoming a crucible for terrorism with far-reaching implications. If left unchecked, these developments could destabilize South Asia, embolden global jihadist networks, and foster an environment ripe for further radicalization. The global community must act swiftly and decisively to counter this peril, ensuring that peace and security prevail over the forces of terror and chaos.
(Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research-scholar, and Editor, Blitz. He regularly writes for local and international newspapers. Follow him on X @Salah_Shoaib)