Understanding Religious Militancy and Terrorism in Bangladesh

The main purpose of this study is to document and highlight the problem of Islamist militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh. It examined the nature of various Islamist militant groups and the extent of their terrorist activities in Bangladesh. This study also investigated the underlying causes of militancy, the funding sources of militant groups, and the strategies and techniques used by terrorist groups. Recommendations are made on how best to address the menace of militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh. The study mainly used content analysis of secondary sources and expert interviews. ICA Bangladesh conducted Understanding religious militancy and terrorism in Bangladesh with a financial grant of the Social Science Research Council, Planning Ministry of the Government of Bangladesh.

While religious militancy and terrorism have become a serious socio-political concern of Bangladesh for a long time, it is still one of the most debatable and underresearched issues. The study revealed that Islamist extremism and militant activities rose from 1999 to 2005. However, homegrown and internationally linked Islamist terrorist outfits and groups have continued to emerge in Bangladesh since 1992. International pressures from some western countries, donors and neighboring countries and the international media heavily influenced the Bangladesh government to fight Islamist militancy and terrorism especially aftermath the 9/11 US attacks and the subsequent global war on terror campaign. By this time, Bangladesh has signed most of the UN anti-terrorism conventions and enacted a number of laws to address the menace of terrorism. Since 2006, Bangladesh has not faced any devastating terrorist attacks with bombing or grenade attacks due to different measures by different governments such as the BNP government`s banning of some outlawed Islamist militant groups and prosecution of militants; the caretaker government’s enactment and implementation of anti-terrorism and anti-terrorist...