This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAKA 000866 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2016 
TAGS: PTER KISL PGOV BD BG BGD
SUBJECT: JAMAATUL MUJAHEDIN AND LAW AND ORDER IN RAJSHAHI 
 
Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, Reason(s): 1.4 (b) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Residents of Rajshahi told poloff that 
Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) were once considered 
favorably when, at first, JMB fought back against the 
Sharbahara, "leftist" criminals who had plagued citizens for 
decades.  However, the JMB began demanding money for their 
protection and eventually attacked the citizens who did not 
join their cause.  Poloff spoke to police, local leaders, and 
university professors on local perceptions of JMB.  Poloff's 
discussion with members of Ahle Hadith Andolan about JMB and 
Dr. Ghalib, who has been arrested for alleged connections 
with JMB terrorists, will be the subject of septel. End 
Summary. 
 
THE RISE OF THE SHARBAHARA 
========================== 
 
¶2. (C) For years, according to local journalists and 
officials, the Rajshahi area has been victimized by bands of 
"leftist" criminals.  The Rajshahi Division's (the equivalent 
of a province) top police officer, Deputy Inspector General 
Bahural Alam, told poloff that "for 30 to 40 years" the 
Sharbahara victimized Rajshahi residents. At first, JMB were 
welcomed for fighting back against the Sharbahara, but very 
soon afterwards resorted to demanding protection money, and 
fell out of favor, he said. 
 
¶3. (C) Sharbahara means "proletariat" in Bangla, and came to 
be referred to as  "leftists" due to their frequent use of 
leftist political terminology.  Rajshahi University sociology 
professor Mizanuddin told poloff that history and geography 
contributed to the rise of both the Sharbahara and JMB.  The 
Rajshahi area, he said, was prone to radicalization due to 
poverty from the lack of good roads for getting goods to 
market, and, after the India/Pakistan partition, many West 
Bengal Muslims came to Rajshahi with an exposure to Communism 
and a "Pakistani view of Islam." 
 
 
 
THE SHARBAHARA STRIKE 
===================== 
 
¶6. (C) Two local officials, each a supporter of one of the 
main parties, Awami League and BNP, had each been assaulted 
by the Sharbahara or JMB. Adding to Mizanuddin's social 
reasons for lawlessness, they told poloff that there simply 
are not enough police for the area. 
 
¶7. (C) BNP Chair of the Tahirpur Municipality A.N. Shamsur 
Rahman described his attack by the Sharbahara last year.  He 
said that while walking to his municipal office, four 
criminals attacked him in broad daylight.  He said the 
Sharbahara typically operate in larger groups of up to 16 
people, use iron bars to subdue their victims, and then 
"slaughter" their victims by slitting their throats.  Echoing 
others that poloff spoke with, he complained that the 
Sharbahara operated with impunity owing to the remoteness of 
the area, the lack of sufficient police, and the inability of 
the government to exert its authority.  As the Chairman of a 
fast growing municipality, he complained that he has the same 
number of staff they had six years ago. 
 
¶8. (C) Rahman reported that during the night while poloff was 
in Rajshahi, a known Rajshahi-based JMB supporter was killed, 
but that it was not terrorism, only retribution.  The 
supporter, whom Rahman named as Omar Ali, was at one time a 
Sharbahara, but switched to JMB.  Now that the police are 
actively pursuing JMB, Rahman said, the Sharbahara returned 
to kill JMB and their supporters. 
 
¶9. (C) When JMB first launched their attacks against the 
Sharbahara, many of the residents supported the JMB, said 
Rahman.  But by mid-2004, "JMB started to do bad things and 
started to attack innocent people," and caused the populace 
to distance themselves from the JMB.  He added that he saw no 
difference between JMB and Bangla Bhai, additional police are 
needed to comb the area, RAB-5 based in Rajshahi should be 
re-deployed to remote areas, and that the local police forces 
are insufficient for the job. 
 
¶10. (C) Asked about the whereabouts of JMB, Rahman claimed 
that local people and local police all know where JMB 
terrorists are located, but keep quiet for fear of 
retribution.  He said that a number of local people have 
sought legal firearms but firearms are only permitted to 
those who can prove they have paid 200,000 taka (3,300 USD) 
in taxes, an enormous sum by Bangladeshi standards. 
 
¶11. (C) In response to poloff's question about national 
elections, Rahman said that despite the economy gradually 
improving, crime and law and order issues are the major 
concern in the Rajshahi area.  "Many people are afraid of 
both groups of hoodlums," and are afraid of walking even in 
daylight, he said.  Rahman showed poloff the place where he 
had been assaulted by Sharbahara, a wide open street near his 
home.  He asked, "If a government officer is not safe here, 
how can the average citizen feel safe?" 
 
 
JMB SEEKS MEMBERS 
================= 
 
¶12. (C) Poloff met with Moqbal Hossain, Chairman of the 
Sreepur Union Council. (The Union Council is the smallest 
level of Bangladesh government.) Hossain said that he 
considers April 1,2004, as the day that JMB emerged to fight 
against the "leftist" Sharbaharas, also known as the PBCP 
(Purbo Banglar Communist Party).  Poloff talked to him at his 
home, accessible only after a 15-minute walk from the nearest 
road, and surrounded by his relatives, who he said are there 
for mutual protection. 
 
¶13. (C) Hossain told poloff that JMB tried to recruit him and 
then when he refused, tried to assassinate him.  Before JMB 
started their vigilante campaign in 2004, Hossain said that 
JMB's Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman called and asked him to 
join them. Hossain said he met with them but refused, citing 
that he was a AL supporter, so he can't join them.  Both 
approached him again and insisted.  Rebuffed a second time, 
they then asked for a financial contribution of 20,000 taka, 
and he refused.  Soon afterward, Hossain said, JMB kidnapped 
one of the Union's commissioners (town board member), taking 
him to their training camp.  Hossain said that he went to the 
camp, taking 25,000 taka with him for ransom. They had 
tortured the commissioner by hanging him from his arms for 
hours, and intended it to be a message to others who do not 
join them. 
 
¶14. (C) Later, on February 22, 2005, Hossain said he was 
returning home from his Union office, 12 people assaulted 
him.  Hossain said that he escaped by jumping into a pond as 
the JMB fired weapons at him.  People in a nearby mosque 
heard the gunshots and using the loudspeaker warned the 
townspeople that their Chairman had been attacked.  The 
fleeing attackers hurled bombs, but three of them were 
captured by villagers, with one villager dead.  Hossain said 
that police did nothing, even though he gave their names of 
his attackers to police. 
 
¶15. (C) Hossain recounted that when JMB began their attacks 
on the Sharbahara, the local townspeople were elated. 
However, within weeks, the JMB started to demand money from 
the townspeople for protection.  While police at first helped 
and cooperated with JMB in their campaign against the 
Sharbahara, now, "we really don't understand" if police are 
still working with JMB cadres. 
 
 
 
BNP/JI SUPPORTS JMB? 
==================== 
 
¶16. (C) Sociology professor Mizanuddin described the Rajshahi 
area as a BNP stronghold (the BNP controls 10 of 11 Rajshahi 
city Parliamentary seats), and said that at first the BNP 
wanted to use the Sharbahara leftists to control the area 
politically through intimidation, but later lost control of 
them. The BNP then created the JMB as a replacement for the 
leftists, he said. 
 
¶17. (C)  Asked about JMB's ties with the BNP coalition 
partner Jamaat Islami (JI), Professor Mizanuddin described JI 
as being a "smart" political party, as they never are 
directly connected to any terrorist group, but use their 
influence and power to establish relationships and 
infrastructure for the support of terrorists.  He said that 
they built and rent out houses, built hospitals, and employed 
people in order to have a network of supporters.  "Ten 
percent of the people support them" as they are very 
organized with a tightly knit system, he said.  They 
established this underground support system as a result of 
the war of liberation when JI, going against popular 
sentiment, refused to support the war against Pakistan, and 
were "forced to go underground."  Many of JI's methods and 
contacts were forged during this time, he said. 
 
¶18. (C) Union Council Chair Hossain said that as far as he 
was concerned, JMB and JI are the same.  He said that many of 
the local JMB cadres, when JMB was banned by the government, 
simply told people that there were not JMB but JI.  He 
alleged that the police and BNP government forces know where 
JMB supporters are and where Bangla Bhai can be found.  He 
said that he told local police where the three JMB training 
camps were located, but they did nothing.  He charged that 
even the local press know of the whereabouts of JMB cadre but 
do nothing.  He said that he once told police where cadres 
were operating but it was hours later that police acted, and 
by then the cadres were gone. He said that BNP ministers 
protect JMB, alleging that they gave direct orders to JMB 
cadres. He said that while everyone knows who attacked him, 
nothing has been done to arrest the perpetrators, some of 
whom were Sharbahara and now part of JMB.  When asked about 
Ahle Hadith involvement with JMB, he said that while some JMB 
may be Ahle Hadith members, not all of Ahle Hadith support 
JMB. 
 
¶19. (C) When poloff asked Deputy Inspector General of Police 
Bahural Alam who supported JMB, he  responded that captured 
JMB followers said their main source of funds was from thefts 
of NGOs during 2001 through 2004. Now it is from tolls and 
protection money.  He added that many JMB were angry at NGOs 
that provided micro-credit to women, enabling the women to 
earn cash, stirring jealousies among the men.  He estimated 
that there were about 8,000 to 10,000 JMB 
supporters/sympathizers nation-wide and that madrasahs and 
mosques were the prime recruiting ground for the young 20-ish 
men.  He said that the items his men have found were made in 
India and smuggled into Bangladesh along the many foot and 
cattle paths in this area.  He showed samples of chemicals 
(e.g. Pyric Acid and Lead Nitrate) seized in raids which can 
be easily found in local shops, he said.  He believed that 
the Sharbahara and the JMB members "switched camps" in an 
informal way.  He described it as the Sharbahara members 
would approach JMB members and in a "I like your work manner" 
offer to cooperate.  Only appointed recently, he said that if 
knew the location of JMB members now, he would certainly 
arrest them. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Comment: Poloff's interlocutors freely used "JMB" 
to refer to both JMJB, Bangla Bhai, and its related 
organization, JMB.  Some changes have come to Rajshahi.  FSN 
accompanying poloff remarked that there are a lot more 
bridges over the Padma River now then even ten years ago. Now 
many of the mud houses have galvanized roofs, and bananas, 
rather than sugar cane and jute, are being grown for cash 
CHAMMAS