The government of Bangladesh started its crackdown against militants and extremist groups at the beginning of 2006. Bangladesh, at first, followed one of the traditional means of counter-terrorism: killing terrorists, often referred to as decapitation, managed to take down JMB’s head Sheikh Abdur Rahman and its deputy Bangla Bhai. The Awami League government, led by Sheikh Hasina, realised the problem of terrorism, and formed a 17-member ‘National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention’ and eight members ‘National Committee for Intelligence Coordination’ in 2009.3 Setting up national committees led to better coordination between policymakers, practitioners and intelligence agencies. The government of Bangladesh passed numerous laws such as the Anti-terrorism Act 2009 (amended in 2012), Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, and Mutual Legal Assistance Act, 2012 with directly or indirectly address the problem of terrorism and violent extremism. The response of Bangladesh counter-terrorism became more notable since the Holy Artisan Bakery incident, such as forming specialised Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in 2016 and the Anti Terrorism Unit in 2017. Two anti-terrorism tribunals are also set up in Dhaka and Chattogram to ensure speedy trials for anyone with terrorism or militancy offences. In recent years, recruiters of violent extremists groups have used cyberspace as a platform to radicalise, recruit, and train.4 To overcome the threat of cyberterrorism, Bangladesh established National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre, which helps to monitor such activities.5 Dhaka also took steps to smart counter-terrorism by disseminating counter-narratives via or promoting tolerance in society via commercials, posters, documentaries and films and mobile app-based complain mechanism and information sharing capacity known as Hello CT, Report 2 RAB and BD Police Help Line.6 The government partners with relevant bodies such as Islamic Foundation Bangladesh to prepare and disseminate religious counter-narratives, formulate prescribed Khutba (provided during Jumman prayers on Friday)7 and redesign the curriculum of Madrasah education system.
Besides government, academics, civil society, think tanks and non-governmental organisations helped in capacity-building, arranging workshops/seminars/conferences, research and disseminating awareness.8,9
3Saimun, Parvez, 2019. “Bangladesh and India,”, in Isaac, Kfir & Georgia, Grice, Counterterrorism Yearbook, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, pp.41-47.
4 Iftekharul, Bashar, 2017. “The evolving threat in Bangladesh", Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses (RSIS), 9(3), pp. 15-18.
5Parvez, op.cit.
6Ibid.
7Khan, op.cit.
8Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, “Expanding Collaboration for Enhancing National CVE Efforts,”
https://bei-bd.org/index.php/bei-workshop-cve-handbook-planning.
9Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, “National Workshop on Countering Violent Extremism- capacity Building Programme (CVECBP)”. https://bipss.org.bd/bipss-organized-a-3-day-national-workshop-on- countering-violent-extremism-capacity-building-programme-cvecbp/.
Both government and civil societies have started to put more emphasis on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism(P/CVE) mechanisms besides security sector-led counter-terrorism. So far, Bangladesh has signed and ratified 14 out of 19 international legal instruments and mechanisms that address countering or preventing terrorism or violent extremism.10 Bangladesh is also part of several regional mechanisms, such as Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The conventions show steadfast commitment of Bangladesh to fight transnational terrorism. Recently, Bangladesh has also launched National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security in partnership with civil society and UN Women aligning with UN Resolution 1325.11 In fighting terrorism and militancy, Bangladesh partners with its longstanding friends, such as the United States of America (USA) and India.
As per the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the number of the terrorist incidents in Bangladesh has shown a good reduction over the last ten years. The number of terrorist-related incidents was 328 in (2010) and 702 in (2013), which was reduced to 99 (2019), 88 (2020) and 70 as of 15th November 2021.12 Also, the amount of fatality rate from terrorist incidents, which was 52 in (2010) and 251 in (2013), has drastically reduced to 4 in (2019), 3 in (2020) and only 1 as of 15th November 2021. The statistics and figures reflect the improvement and success of Bangladesh and its firm commitment towards fighting terrorism and violent extremism. Despite such success, counter-terrorism in Bangladesh is still based on hard power (a top-down mechanism), which mainly involves killing, arresting, and prosecuting. The Government of Bangladesh should increase the role of non-government stakeholders in combating terrorism following the whole of society approach. The existing mechanism fulfils the requirements for fulfilling the current strategic or tactical purposes, which might not be the case in the future, hence Bangladesh must emphasise promoting preventive mechanisms for sustaining peace in a globalised world like today.
Another area of improvement on which Bangladesh needs to emphasise is improving its prison management system and having structural rehabilitation or disengagement programs. Proper prison management and rehabilitation or disengagement programs are essential to allow offenders of terrorism to receive proper counter-narratives and reintegrate into the society as when it’s required. Despite Bangladesh law enforcement agencies have shown huge success in fighting terrorism, there have been cases when they have allegedly to violated human rights;13 hence, Bangladesh must ensure its practices align with international human rights standards. Lastly, despite the male-dominated domain of terrorism and violent extremism in Bangladesh, women are often involved as perpetrators over the last few years. Government and civil society must ensure female/women access to education, employment opportunities and empower them properly. It requires a fair share and space for women in decision-making, policymaking, and increasing numbers of female practitioners in law enforcement agencies.
10E, Gordon & J, True, 2019, “Gender stereotyped or gender responsive? Hidden threats and missed opportunities to prevent and counter violent extremism in Indonesia and Bangladesh,” The RUSI Journal, 164, no. 4, pp. 74-91.
11Bangladesh National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, from: http://www.peacewomen.org/
sites/default/ files/Bangladesh%20NAP%20(2019-2022).pdf
12South Asia Terrorism Portal, from: https://www.satp.org/.
13Parvez, op.cit.
14Nazneen Mohsina “ Growing Trends of Female ‘Jihadism’ in Bangladesh,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 9, No. 8 (Singapore: RSIS, 2017), pp. 7-21.
Raian Hossain is Lecturer, Global Studies & Governance (GSG) Program of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). He holds a MA in International Relations from the University of Nottingham, UK, and Bachelor of Arts (Social Science), majoring in International Studies from Monash University. His research interest includes China & International Affairs, Cross-Strait Relations, South Asian Politics, Security &
Strategic Studies, Terrorism and Violent Extremism.