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| 172 terror camps exist in Bangladesh | | Dhaka unwilling to shut anti-India camps | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 17: The government of India has taken exception to the unwillingness of Bangladesh to shut anti-India militant camps on its soil. Renewed activity by anti-India Islamist guerrillas in Bangladesh has triggered conern, if not commotion, within the Indian intelligence community.
The Bangladesh government continues to be indiferent even after New Delhi has, on more than one occasion, pointed out to Dhaka that recent terror attacks in India, including at Ayodhya in July last year, bomb blasts in Varanasi in March and the 7/11 Mumbai train bombings, had linkages with individuals and outfits in Bangladesh. EARLY TIMES was officially told that India only last month provided to the Bangladesn government a detailed list of the camps operating there.
This apart, New Delhi also apprised Dhaka of a set of inputs vis-a-vis the modus operandi of how Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is recruiting Indians and training them. However, Dhaka's response, accccording to the Indian Home Ministry, has so far been to deny the presence of the terrorist camps even as anti-India activities of ISI are increasing.
While Intelligence Bureau (IB) is learnt to have furnished a list of recruits who have been trained in these camps along the India-Bangladesh border, and some drafted from the Middle East to carry out subversive acts, Union Home Secretary, V.K. Duggal, who led the delegation to Dhaka in August, pointed to the list of 172 terror camps and detailed how the insurgents were supported by Bangladeshi fundamentalist outfits sponsored by ISI, with money coming from the Gulf.
There is evidence with the government of India about Bangladesh having become the focal point of anti-India activities and about ISI being in direct league with HUJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam) for all terrorist-related activities inside India. Training and recruitment are being done on the soil of Banghladesh. Although New Delhi and Dhaka have agreed to examine the possibility of instituting a bilateral mechanism soon to combat terrorism and organised crime, there is a strong possibility that skirmishes along the India-Bangladesh border could blow up into a major flare-up.
At a meeting with India's Border Security Force (BSF) officials last month, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Deputy Director-General, Brigadier General S.M. Golam Rabbani, was furnished with a list and asked to deport 113 Indian militants including United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, its general secretary Anup Chetia and others residing there.
Some of the top Indian militants seeking sanctuary in Bangladesh belong to the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA), the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the Kanlei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL). Interestingly, the BDR this time did not reject India's demand outright but sought time to determine their whereabouts.
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