The banned
...the word
bannedseems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization on January 8 circulated provocative leaflets based on runaway Maj Syed Ziaul Haq's internet message throughout the country, the army said at a presser on January 19.
The Bangladesh chapter of Hizb-ut-Tahrir was banned on October 22, 2010 for its anti-state subversive activities.
However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
instead of ceasing its activities, the outfit tried to bring out processions and hold rallies on several occasions in and outside the capital and advertised several of its publications.
It circulated the internet message of Maj Ziaul, who met a serving officer on December 22 last year and instigated him to engage in activities subversive of the state and democracy. The banned outfit also circulated a provocative leaflet in Bangla and English in December asking army officers to remove Sheikh Hasina from power and "establish Khilafat".
The army at its presser said a few incarcerated and suspected officers involved in the foiled plot were linked with the outlawed outfit.
"If you review the mode of activities of hard boy organizations, their indoctrination system, ideology and how they work, you will know that two to three officers who admitted their links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir relate to the patterns [mentioned above]," said Brig Gen Mashud Razzaq while responding to journalists' queries.
"Besides, information given on email has been mentioned in Hizb-ut-Tahrir leaflets," he added. He, however, said the links could be confirmed once investigations had been completed.
Against the backdrop of the latest developments, the law enforcement agencies have strengthened their efforts to trap Hizb-ut-Tahrir activists in the country.
A number of activists have already been incarcerated in the act of distributing posters, leaflets and other publications.
The outfit, however, continues promoting its activities, thus defying the government ban and challenging the law enforcers. Its members are continuously posting Tahrir posters on walls, bringing out processions, distributing leaflets and carrying out motivational activities across the country.
Posters at different strategic points across the country contain calls to support the outfit to topple the government and implement its proposed Islamic government.
Talking to The Daily Star, several top-ranked officials of the elite Rapid Action Battalion
(Rab) and Detective Branch of police expressed their inability to combat the outfit's activities. They have stressed the need for a separate tribunal to check unabated militancy.They said they had already launched a crackdown on Tahrir, pointing out that the arrest of five activists in Uttara was a part of the ongoing crackdown.
Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, director of the Intelligence Wing of Rab, told The Daily Star, "It is tough to stop Tahrir men as they get all kinds of support from the organization if they are incarcerated. Families of the jugged activists also get financial support. As a result, they don't bother much about the arrest."
Since the ban, some 500 Hizb-ut men have been incarcerated, but most of them are now out on bail.