Intelligence operations have been stepped up across the country to gather advance information of Islamist militants in the wake of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiris announcement about spreading its wing in Indian sub continent.Zawahri on Wednesday in an online-posted video announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group that would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” across the sub-continent, including Bangladesh, Myanmar and some parts of India.The al Qaeda leader also said he seeks to gain support “for the vulnerable” in Myanmar and Bangladesh; in the Indian states of Assam and Gujarat; and in Kashmir, the disputed region between India and Pakistan. He called for “rescue” from “injustice, oppression, persecution, and suffering” in these areas.Officials said all the anti-militant wings of Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] have been directed to increase vigilance and collect advance information of the terrorist outfit.Besides, other intelligence agencies, including National Security Intelligence [NSI], Special Branch [SB] and Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division of Police have been kept alert so that any kind of militancy could not gain ground, they said. “We have taken initiatives regarding the al-Qaeda tape. Intelligence agencies and other security forces have also been alerted. Although the government doesn’t think it’s a threat, we have taken adequate measures to tackle any untoward situation,” Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Additional Secretary [Political], Ministry of Home Affairs, told The New Nation on Thursday.Sources said the government has reiterated its determination on curbing militancy with strong hands following the Zawahri’s latest announcement. “The government has already taken tough stance to resist militancy in the country…The government is not worried about al-Qaeda’s announcement of formation of its branch in the sub-continent,” State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday. Replying to queries of the newsmen, he said, “We are verifying the authenticity of the al Qaeda video and it’s content [announcement]. We’re closely observing the matter and reviewing it. There is no room for militancy in Bangladesh. The government is very much alert about the rise of militancy.”Meanwhile, the Indian government yesterday ordered several states to be on increased alert in the wake of al Qaeda’s announcement. Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh held an emergency meeting with the intelligence agencies where National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was also present, reported a news agency. Quoting an official, who attended the security briefing, the news agency said that the Indian government believed it was ‘authentic’. “This matter has been taken very seriously,” the official told the news agency. “An alert has been sounded.”On February 14, an audio message delivered by Zawahiri through internet called on Bangladeshi Muslims to wage jihad against the enemies of Islam.Zawahiri in the clip also had questioned the motives of the birth of Bangladesh and expressed anger over the trial of war criminals those had opposed independence from Pakistan in 1971. He had also accused the government for killing ‘thousands of people’ during crackdown on the Hifazat-e Islam’s rally in Dhaka.Experts said the timing and content of the video suggests rivalry between al Qaeda and its more vigorous rival in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State [IS], which anecdotal evidence suggests is gathering support in South Asia. IS pamphlets have been distributed in Pakistan in recent days.Zawahiri`s announcement also made two references to Gujarat, the home state of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi where over 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, had died in Gujarat riots in 2002 when Modi was the state’s chief minister.Ahmedabad is the main city in Gujarat, which borders India’s archrival, Pakistan.In Assam, religious tensions are high after massacres of Muslims by tribal populations in the past two years. Besides, Kashmir is the disputed territory between India and Pakistan, and has long attracted foreign mujahideen fighters as well as home-grown separatist militants, the media reported.The al Qaeda in June had also released a video in India urging young radicals in Kashmir to draw inspiration from militants in Syria and Iraq and join the “global jihad”.In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.Zawahri described the formation of “Al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent” as glad tidings for Muslims “in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir” and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda’s ageing leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanised young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a “caliph” or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi’s followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge.SAFE HAVENOver the years Zawahri and his predecessor Osama bin Laden, killed by U.S. forces in 2011, repeatedly pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, in return for the safe haven he granted their followers in Afghanistan.Islamic State’s effort at state-building is something never attempted by al Qaeda’s central leaders, who traditionally have preferred to plot complex attacks on targets in the West.Zawahri called for unity among militants and criticised “discord” – echoing a common al Qaeda complaint against Islamic State’s record of clashing with rival Islamist groups in Syria.The statement also warned al Qaeda’s new wing against oppressing local populations – another complaint levelled against Islamic State by critics in Iraq and Syria.”If you said that you are doing jihad to defend the sanctities of the Muslims, then you must not transgress against them or their money or honour, and not even transgress your mujahideen brothers by word and action,” he said.”Discord is a curse and torment, and disgrace for the believers and glory for the disbelievers,” he said. “If you say that by your jihad you do not want but the pleasure of Allah, then you must not race for governance and leadership at the first opportunity.”Muslims account for 15 percent of Indians but, numbering an estimated 175 million, theirs is the third-largest Muslim population in the world.Centuries of rule by medieval Muslim invaders drove a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. Tensions have grown since Pakistan was carved from Muslim-majority areas of India in 1947, a violent partition in which hundreds of thousands were killed. In the era of Washington’s “war on terror”, some Indian Muslims have begun to sympathise more with hardline pan-Islamic groups and causes.
