Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh or JMB is a terrorist organization which operates from Bangladesh. It was reported to be behind the Dhaka Terror attack of 2016, which put Bangladesh on international terror map.
What makes this JMB even deadlier, especially for India, is the fact that it is now believed to be coordinating with the ISIS to spread terror in Bangladesh and India. Some of the larger plans of the JMB are publicizing the presence of ISIS in India and to also spur recruitment for the group.
Now it seems both the JMB and the ISIS are indulging in an unique radicalization process which is:
Targeting Hindus who have converted to Islam for spreading their terror operations in the Indian subcontinent or otherwise
Here are are few incidents on which the above assertion is based:
- On 27th April authorities arrested three terrorists namely Tamim Dari, Kamrul Hasan and Md Mostofa Majumdar who were reported to be the members of a certain Sarowar-Tamim group of JMB. Bomb making materials, plastic explosives and armaments were recovered from the trio. Out of the three the terrorist Tamim Dari is stated to be a Hindu convert.
- Acting on a tip, Bangladeshi counter-terrorism operatives raided a house on 21st April which reportedly acted as a hideout of neo-JMB members. As the operation went on the team recovered 15-16 Jihadi books along with various weapons. The report suggested that the house was owned by a man named Abdullah who had converted from Hinduism in 2012. He was previously named Provat Kumar Batul and after his conversion had also married a Muslim girl.
- Such incidents about converted Jihadis have also emerged in India. According to a January 2017 report, the NIA had so far arrested 52 suspected ISIS terrorists. Reportedly 15% of these or roughly 7-8 terrorists were converts from Hinduism and Christianity. Apart from this, there were other interesting factors. About 80% of these 52 terrorists had acquired formal education and rest had gone to Madrasas. Also 20 out of the lot were believed to be engineers.
- Reports surfaced in January 16 which claimed that an ISIS terrorist who threatened Britain in a video was believed to be British Indian youth named Siddhartha Dhar who had converted to Islam and relocated to Syria in 2014. Siddhartha had taken up the name Abu Rumaysah after his conversion.
This appears to be part of strategy by ISIS to target groups, which for various reasons, either feel victimised or have an axe to grind with non-Muslim ethnic groups. Earlier, Rohingya Muslims were also reported to have been identified as potential recruits by the ISIS.
