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CRITICAL STUDIES OF
THE ASIA-PACIFIC
SERIES EDITOR: MARK BEESON

Islamist Militancy in
Bangladesh
A Pyramid Root Cause Model

Shafi Md Mostofa
 Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific

Series Editor
Mark Beeson, Political Science & International Relations, University
of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific showcases new research and scholar-
ship on what is arguably the most important region in the world in the
twenty-first century. The rise of China and the continuing strategic impor-
tance of this dynamic economic area to the United States mean that the
Asia-Pacific will remain crucially important to policymakers and scholars
alike. The unifying theme of the series is a desire to publish the best
theoretically-informed, original research on the region. Titles in the series
cover the politics, economics and security of the region, as well as focusing
on its institutional processes, individual countries, issues and leaders. The
book series is Scopus Indexed.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14940
 Shafi Md Mostofa

Islamist Militancy
in Bangladesh
A Pyramid Root Cause Model
Shafi Md Mostofa
World Religions and Culture
University of Dhaka
Dhaka, Bangladesh

ISSN 2662-222X ISSN 2662-2238 (electronic)

Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific
ISBN 978-3-030-79170-4 ISBN 978-3-030-79171-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79171-1

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for
general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and informa-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.

Cover image: © Anton Balazh/shutterstock

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to Professor (Emeritus) Howard Brasted, Professor
Helen Ware, Professor Habib Zafarullah and Dr. Natalie Doyle, who
helped shape my ideas.
 Foreword

Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: A Pyramid Root Cause Model promises

to be an important book. In the first place, it turns the spotlight on
Bangladesh as a significant hub of Islamist militancy. Although the third
largest Muslim majority country in the world, it has tended to be over-
shadowed in the scholarly literature on religious extremism and Islamist
terrorism by both the Middle East and its former constituent South Asian
partner Pakistan, from whom it separated in 1971. Indeed, it has been
nuclear-armed Pakistan that has usually taken centre stage as the key
regional training centre and entrepot of terrorists.
Since 9/11 especially, Bangladesh has experienced several mass acts
of terrorist violence, notably the co-ordinated bomb attacks in August
2005 that occurred in all but one of the country’s 64 districts, and
the 12-hour siege of the Holey Artisan café in 2016 when a number
of international tourists were killed. Periodically, journalists, academics
and bloggers are assassinated for expressing opinions that are declared
by local militant groups to be anti-Islamic. That branches of Al Qaeda
and Daesh/Islamic State have also been set up in the last decade would
suggest that Bangladesh is increasingly being seen as a fertile ground for
terrorist activity and recruitment in its own right.
Yet there have been very few scholarly studies of the growing incidence
of religious militancy in Bangladesh or attempts to locate its sources and
drivers. And bit by bit Islamist fundamentalism continues to chip away at
the secular identity Bangladesh constitutionally embraced when parting

vii
viii FOREWORD

company with Pakistan 50 years ago. While Islamist militancy is not new
and has posed a serious challenge to law and order in Bangladesh since
its traumatic birth, particularly following the return of battle-hardened
veterans from the Soviet-Afghan war of 1979–1989, it constitutes an even
more obvious and present danger now.
In the second place, Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: A Pyramid Root
Cause Model not only attempts to explain this history and the context out
of which Islamist militancy has emerged, but it also constructs a ‘pyramid
root cause model’ that ties all the causative variables into a connected anal-
ysis of what is happening in the period 2009–2019, the book’s chrono-
logical focus. Based on an exhaustive review of the relevant literature and
two extensive field trips in which over 70 interviews were conducted with
a variety of experts, this study investigates both the local and global factors
serving to radicalize Muslim youths and recruit them to the cause of local,
regional and international terrorism.
One of the more interesting findings to emerge is that most of the
young militants are drawn from the upper-middle classes, are gener-
ally well educated, and more often than not are the products more of
secular educational rather than necessarily traditional religious institutions.
What helps to radicalize them are a kaleidoscope of grievances stemming
from a lack of employment opportunity, disaffection with government at
all levels, populist perceptions of widespread corruption and nepotism,
personal crises and disillusionment with secular democratic responses to
the problems of widespread poverty and persistent disadvantage.
But the primary driving force the author of this volume, Dr. Shafi
Md Mostofa, singles out is Islamist ideology with its simple if seduc-
tive argument that Islam is the solution. What puts a premium on this
argument is the theologically based narrative that accompanies it, namely
that end-time cosmic war involving the ultimate sacred battle between
good and evil is just around the corner. Propagated by both Al Qaeda
and Islamic State through social media and cyber technology especially,
but also through professionally produced magazines like Resurgence and
Dabiq, the message is clear that fighting in the final war on earth with the
forces of unbelief—certainly in Bangladesh but particularly in India in line
with an ancient Hadith prophecy attributed to prophet Muhammad—is
the ultimate act of religious duty that will guarantee the triumph of Islam
as the only religion left in the post-apocalypse world. Whether or not such
messages continue to resonate with young Bangladeshis after COVID-19
 FOREWORD ix

or actually be reinforced by the pandemic, Dr. Shafi Mostofa does not

speculate.
He believes, however, that despite the crackdown by the current Awami
League government on Islamist militant groups and the potential demise
of IS Bangladesh, it is very probable that the process of radicalization will
continue. For until the underlying causes of religiously inspired militancy
are confronted and addressed anti-government and certainly anti-western
sentiment will remain strong and likely grow stronger.
I have no hesitation in commending this book to those actively
studying Islamist radicalization not only in Bangladesh, but elsewhere
as well. Dr. Mostofa’s investigation sets out to break new ground in
explaining both its causes and trajectory and in his ‘pyramid root cause
model’ arguably achieves this. Although clearly a purpose-built model,
the clues it provides are of a kind to suggest that it may have a wider
trans-national application. Overall, his treatment is sufficiently clear and
uncomplicated to appeal to the general reader looking to understand
the phenomenon of Islamist militancy. Having worked with Dr. Mostofa
at the University of New England, Australia, where he completed his
doctorate in 2019, I look forward to his being recognized as a leading
analyst in this field as he rises through the profession at Dhaka university.

Dr. Howard Brasted

Emeritus Professor of History and Islamic Studies
University of New England
Armidale, NSW, Australia
 Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Revisiting Islamist Radicalization Puzzle 3
1.1.1 Theories of Radicalization 16
1.1.2 Models of Radicalization 18
1.2 Methodology 24
1.3 Limitations 26
References 27
2 The Islamization of Bangladesh 37
2.1 Introduction 37
2.2 The Spread of Islam in Bengal 38
2.3 Islamization from Below 41
2.3.1 Sufism or Popular Islam 41
2.3.2 Neo-Fundamentalism (Wahhabism, Salafism
and Deobandism) 43
2.3.3 Islamism 47
2.3.4 Contemporary Islamic Movements
in Bangladesh 50
2.3.4.1 The Barelvi Movement 50
2.3.4.2 The Tablighi jama’at 51
2.3.4.3 The Hefazat-e-Islam 53
2.4 Islamization from Above 58
2.4.1 The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) 59
2.4.2 The Jatiya Party (JP) 61

xi
xii CONTENTS

2.4.3 The Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) 62

2.5 Conclusion 67
References 68
3 The Rise and Growth of Islamist Militancy
in Bangladesh 75
3.1 Introduction 75
3.2 The Rise of Fundamentalism in Bangladesh 76
3.3 The Growth of Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh 81
3.4 Conclusion 94
References 96
4 The Local Drivers of Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh 103
4.1 Introduction 103
4.2 Economic Factors 104
4.3 Political Factors 107
4.4 Social Factors 116
4.5 Cultural Factors 120
4.6 Educational Factors 123
4.7 Psychological Factors 125
4.8 Personal Frustrations 126
4.9 Conclusion 127
References 128
5 Ideological and Global Factors of Islamist Militancy
in Bangladesh 135
5.1 Introduction 135
5.2 Ideology 135
5.3 Global Factors 143
5.3.1 The Fall of Socialism 143
5.3.2 Failure of Islamist Political Parties 143
5.3.3 The Failure of Muslim States 145
5.3.4 Islamophobia 145
5.3.5 Inspiration for Islamists 146
5.3.6 IS and Al Qaeda Connections 147
5.3.7 Neo-Imperialism 148
5.3.8 Impact of Modernization 152
5.3.9 The Influx of Rohingyas 153
5.3.10 Diaspora Radicalization 154
5.3.11 Transnational Militant Activities 155
 CONTENTS xiii

5.4 Conclusion 155

References 156
6 Explaining Islamist Militancy: A Pyramid Root Cause
Model 163
6.1 Introduction 163
6.2 A Pyramid Root Cause Model 164
6.3 Macro Level Causes 164
6.4 Global Factors 165
6.4.1 Global-Grievances 165
6.4.2 Global-Facilitators 166
6.4.3 Global-Networks 167
6.4.4 Global-Triggers 167
6.5 Local Factors 168
6.5.1 Local Grievances 168
6.5.2 Local-Facilitators 171
6.5.3 Local-Networks 172
6.5.4 Local-Triggers 173
6.6 Micro Level Factors 173
6.6.1 Micro-Grievances 173
6.6.2 Micro-Facilitators 174
6.6.3 Micro-Networks 175
6.6.4 Micro-Triggers 175
6.7 Ideological Factors 176
6.7.1 Perceived Solutions for Grievances 176
6.7.2 Ideological Facilitators 176
6.7.3 Networks of Ummah 177
6.7.4 Apocalyptic and Eschatological Triggers 178
6.8 A Possible Model of Explanation 179
6.9 Conclusion 180
References 182
7 Concluding Remarks 187
References 191

Index 193
 Abbreviations

AAI Ansar-Al-Islam
ABT Ansarullah Bangla Team
AHAB Ahl-e-Hadith Andolon Bangladesh
AHF Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
AIAPC Anti-Islamic Activities Prevention Committee
AM Al Mujaherun
APA American Psychological Association
AQ Al Qaeda
AQIS Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
BAL Bangladesh Awami League
BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
BCP Biplobi Communist Party
BDR Bangladesh Rifles
BEI Bangladesh Enterprise Institute
BIISS Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies
BIPSS Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies
BNP Bangladesh Nationalist Party
CCP Chhinnamul Communist Party
CH Counter Hegemony
CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts
CI Counter-Institutionalization
CTTA Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime
Daesh Al-Dawlah Al-Islamiyah fi Al-Iraq wa Al-Sham
DGFI Directorate General of Forces Intelligence
DI Darul Islam
EBAL East Bengal Awami Muslim League

xv
xvi ABBREVIATIONS

GB Gono Bahini
GMF Gono Mukti Fouz
GST General Strain Theory
GWOT Global War On Terrorism
HeI Hefazat-e-Islam
HT Hizb-ut Tahrir
HTB Hizb-ut Tahrir Bangladesh
HUJI Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
HUJIB Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh
ICM Islamic constitution movement
IIF International Islamic Front
IIRO International Islamic Relief Organization
IS Islamic State
ISA Islamic Shashantantra Andolon
ISIL Islamic State of Iraq and Levant
ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
JeI Bangladesh Jama’at-e-Islami
JeM Jaish-e-Muhammed
JMB Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
JMI Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen India
JMJB Jaggrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
JP Jatiya Party
JTK Jund at-Tawhid wal-Khalifa
LeT Laskar-e-Taieba
MEPI Middle East Partnership Initiative
MMB Muslim Millat Bahini
MP Members of the Parliament
NBPC New Biplobi Communist Party
NGOs Non-Government Organizations
NU Nadhatul Ulama
NYPD New York Police Department
OIC Organisation of Islamic Conference
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PBCP Purbo Bangla Communist Party
PBUH Peace Be Upon Him
PP Power Prestige
QFS Qital Fi Sabilillah
RAB Rapid Action Battalion
RIHS Revival of Islamic Heritage Society
RM Resource Mobilization
RSO Rohingya Solidarity Organization
SATP South Asia Terrorism Portal
SB Shanti Bahini
 ABBREVIATIONS xvii

SCT Self-Categorization Theory

SIT Social Identity Theory
SMT Social Movement Theory
SP Socialist Party
SPM Sarbahara People’s March
SSH Servants of Suffering Humanity
TIB Transparency International Bangladesh
TJ Tablighi Jama’at
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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 168. See Appendix, note 52.

169. Richardson de la Peinture, vol. i. p. 74.

170. Geschichte der Kunst, p. 347.

171. Not Apollodorus, but Polydorus. Pliny is the only one who mentions these
artists, and I am not aware that the manuscripts differ in the writing of the name.
Had such been the case, Hardouin would certainly have noticed it. All the older
editions also read Polydorus. Winkelmann must therefore have merely made a
slight error in transcribing.

172. Ἀθηνόδωρος δὲ καὶ Δαμέας ... οὗτοι δὲ Ἀρκάδες εἰσὶν ἐκ Κλείτορος.

Phoc. cap. ix. p. 819 (edit. Kuhn).

173. Plinius, lib. xxxiv. sect. 19.

174. Lib. xxxvi. sect. 4. “Nor are there many of great repute the number of
artists engaged on celebrated works preventing the distinction of individuals; since
no one could have all the credit, nor could the names of many be rehearsed at once:
as in the Laocoon, which is in the palace of the emperor Titus, a work surpassing
all the results of painting or statuary. From one stone he and his sons and the
wondrous coils of the serpents were sculptured by consummate artists, working in
concert: Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, all of Rhodes. In like manner
Craterus with Pythodorus, Polydectes with Hermolaus, another Pythodorus with
Artemon, and Aphrodisius of Tralles by himself, filled the palaces of the Cæsars on
the Palatine with admirable statuary. Diogenes, the Athenian, decorated the
Pantheon of Agrippa, and the Caryatides on the columns of that temple rank
among the choicest works, as do also the statues on the pediment, though these,
from the height of their position, are less celebrated.”

175. Bœotic. cap. xxxiv. p. 778 (edit. Kuhn).

176. Plinius, lib. xxxvi. sect. 4, p. 730.

177. Geschichte der Kunst, part ii. p. 331.

178. Plinius, xxxvi. sect. 4.... “which would make the glory of any other place.
But at Rome the greatness of other works overshadows it, and the great press of
business and engagements turns the crowd from the contemplation of such things;
for the admiration of works of art belongs to those who have leisure and great
quiet.”

179. See Appendix, note 53.

180. Plinius, xxxvi. sect. 4.

 181. Geschichte der Kunst, part ii. p. 347.

182. Lib. xxxvi. sect. 4.

183. See Appendix, note 54.

184. Prefatio Edit. Sillig. “Lest I should seem to find too much fault with the
Greeks, I would be classed with those founders of the art of painting and sculpture,
recorded in these little volumes, whose works, although complete and such as
cannot be sufficiently admired, yet bear a suspended title, as Apelles or Polycletus
‘was making’; as if the work were always only begun and still incomplete, so that
the artist might appeal from criticism as if himself desirous of improving, had he
not been interrupted. Wherefore from modesty they inscribed every work as if it
had been their last, and in hand at their death. I think there are but three with the
inscription, ‘He made it,’ and these I shall speak of in their place. From this it
appeared that the artists felt fully satisfied with their work, and these excited the
envy of all.”

185. See Appendix, note 55.

186. Geschichte der Kunst, part i. p. 394.

187. Cap. i. “He was also reckoned among their greatest leaders, and did many
things worthy of being remembered. Among his most brilliant achievements was
his device in the battle which took place near Thebes, when he had come to the aid
of the Bœotians. For when the great leader Agesilaus was now confident of victory,
and his own hired troops had fled, he would not surrender the remainder of the
phalanx, but with knee braced against his shield and lance thrust forward, he
taught his men to receive the attack of the enemy. At sight of this new spectacle,
Agesilaus feared to advance, and ordered the trumpet to recall his men who were
already advancing. This became famous through all Greece, and Chabrias wished
that a statue should be erected to him in this position, which was set up at the
public cost in the forum at Athens. Whence it happened that afterwards athletes
and other artists [or persons versed in some art] had statues erected to them in the
same position in which they had obtained victory.”

188. See Appendix, note 56.

189. Περὶ Ὕψους, τμῆμα, ιδ’ (edit. T. Fabri), ρ. 36, 39. “But so it is that
rhetorical figures aim at one thing, poetical figures at quite another; since in poetry
emphasis is the main object, in rhetoric distinctness.”

190. “So with the poets, legends and exaggeration obtain and in all transcend
belief; but in rhetorical figures the best is always the practicable and the true.”

191. De Pictura Vet. lib. i. cap. 4, p. 33.

 192. Von der Nachahmung der griech. Werke, &c., 23.

193. Τμῆμα, β. “Next to this is a third form of faultiness in pathos, which

Theodorus calls parenthyrsus; it is a pathos unseasonable and empty, where
pathos is not necessary; or immoderate, where it should be moderate.”

194. Geschichte der Kunst, part i. p. 136.

195. Herodotus de Vita Homeri, p. 756 (edit. Wessel).

196. Iliad, vii.

197. Geschichte der Kunst, part i. p. 176. Plinius, lib. xxxv. sect. 36. Athenæus,
lib. xii. p. 543.

198. Geschichte der Kunst, part ii. p. 353. Plinius, lib. xxxvi. sect. 4.

199. See Appendix, note 57.

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 TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
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