Understanding Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh

Abstract

Challenges from Islamist militants have been an integral part of Bangladesh’s political landscape since the 1980s. Islamist militancy has passed through different phases of silent and active forms, drawing inspiration from conflicts in Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. A vast literature has dealt with Islamist militancy in Bangladesh, but very few works have shed light on who the Bangladeshi Islamist militants are and how they radicalize youths, whom they target for their secret mission of killings, and finally why youths choose to be radicalized, especially with the arrival of Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Bangladesh in 2013. The author conducted nearly 50 in-depth interviews with experts in Bangladesh and reviewed newspaper reports to answer these questions. This paper argues that middle-class youths with urban and secular backgrounds are increasingly being radicalized through cyber space, and diverse groups of people are targeted to carry out killings owing to their perceived ideological divergence. The idea of an apocalyptic Caliphate, a feeling of victimization, a disillusionment with the state and society, and personal distresses are all found to act as catalysts for Islamist radicalization in Bangladesh.

Online Radicalisation: How Social Media Is Promoting Islamist Militancy

“…Additionally, Bangladeshi militants heavily rely on the Internet for various activities such as funding, mobilisation, recruitment, propaganda and communication. Mostofa (2021) also finds that cyberspace is progressively radicalising middle-class teenagers from urban and secular backgrounds, and individuals with perceived ideological differences are targeted for assassinations.…”

“…Bangladesh, the world's third-largest Muslim-populated country with over 165 million people, has not been immune to this emerging trend of Islamist militancy. While Islamist militants have been involved in various activities in the South Asian country since the 1980s, there has been a recent surge in violent extremism in the past few years (Mostofa, 2021). According to a study, between 2001 and 2016, Islamist militants carried out 147 violent attacks in Bangladesh (Fair & Abdallah, 2017).…”

“…The tech-savvy nature of Islamist militant groups in Bangladesh has become increasingly prominent in recent years (Sharma, 2023). The country has witnessed a significant rise in Internet and social media usage.…”

“…Since 2016, there has been a steady decline in the score, with values of 6.18 in 2016, 5.7 in 2017, 5.21 in 2018, 4.91 in 2019 and 4.9 in 2020 (GTI, 2020). Nevertheless, scholars argue that Bangladeshi Islamist militants remain active in the changing landscape and have adjusted their strategies accordingly (Alam, 2020; Bashar, 2019; Sharma, 2023).…”

Radikalisme Sebagai Tantangan Demokratisasi Bangladesh

“…Keberadaan media sosial bahkan dinilai mampu meradikalkan kelompok yang selama ini dikenal sekuler. Ekstrimis Islam mempengaruhi kaum muda kelas menengah dengan latar belakang perkotaan dan sekuler melalui ruang siber, dan berbagai kelompok menjadi sasaran untuk melakukan pembunuhan karena perbedaan ideologi mereka (Mostofa, 2021).…”