Islamic Jihadism In West Bengal

[G.Subramaniam]

A strong crowd, owing allegiance to the All Bengal Minority Youth Federation, Sunnat- al- Jamat, Ulema Parishad and the Madrasa Students Union had assembled at Hazi Mohammad Mahasin Square in central Kolkata in the afternoon to protest against

the trial of war criminals in Bangladesh. The protestors tagged the Seikh Hasina-led Awami League government’s trial of war criminals as a “farce”.

To punish war criminals, who had allegedly killed and tortured the freedom fighters of Bangladesh during the country’s ‘Muktijudhha’ in 1971, the Hasina government had set up a special court and declared several prominent leaders of the country as war criminals. The agitating activists claimed that the Bangladesh government was trying to ban Jamat-e-Islami and its supporters.

The situation could have gone out of control since the agitators had a plan to stage demonstration in front the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission office at Circus Avenue. However, apprehending an outbreak of violence, city police took prompt action and a huge force was deployed on AJC Bose Road to restrict the movement of the rally. More than 400 cops — including RAF and riot police — were deployed in a three-tier security ring.