| Submit your comments on this article |
| Bangladesh |
| Fresh list of insurgent camps to be given to Dhaka |
| 2004-09-14 |
| India will give Bangladesh a fresh list of insurgent training camps being operated there when the Home Secretary, Dhirendra Singh, pays a three-day visit to Dhaka from September 15. India is also likely to seek custody of fugitive insurgent leaders, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chief, Paresh Baruah, from the Khaleda Zia Government. Well-placed sources in the Home Ministry said the revised list of camps will include those serving as shelter-cum-transit points for insurgents active in the north-eastern States. These camps belong to the ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and other militant outfits active in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Tripura. During talks with the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) last month, the Border Security Force (BSF) had submitted a list of 195 camps run from Bangladeshi territory. The BDR denied the existence of these camps. The list is being updated for the Home Secretary's visit. The list of fugitive leaders, whose handing over is to be demanded, includes Paresh Baruah, who is hiding in Dhaka with the connivance of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Others are his deputy Arabinda Rajkhowa and the NLFT leader, Deve Burman. The sources pointed out that a recent five-part article in a prominent Bangladeshi newspaper, Prothom Alo, reported that the banned Bangladeshi Islamic extremist outfit, Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJAI) — declared a terrorist outfit by the U.S. State Department for its links with the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban — has established an active network through `madrasas' and local non-governmental organisations. It is imparting training to extremist groups from Myanmar and India, the newspaper report said. The HUJAI was reported to be using its clout with certain Bangladeshi Islamic political groups such as the ruling Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote (Islamic Unity Forum). Top HUJAI leaders such as Mufti Abdul Hannan, Mufti Qamaruzzaman and Mufti Saleh Ahmed, who have fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya, are now operating from underground, the report said. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |