Banned Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, which had laid low for quite some time, has resurfaced with a campaign ahead of the 11th parliamentary election slated for Dec 30.
In capital Dhaka, walls in some areas are littered with the group's posters calling on “fellow Muslims” to unite to establish ‘Caliphate’.
On Monday (Nov 26), some 30 of its activists took out a surprise near the city’s Shahbagh intersection. Videos of the procession has been making round in the social media since then.
“We have noticed the matter. It’s clear that are trying to regroup. Already some arrests have been made. We are trying to identify the bigwigs,” said Deputy Commissioner Mahibul Islam Khan of Dhaka metro police’s counterterrorism unit.
On Saturday (Nov 24), the Rapid Action Battalion arrested five suspected Hizbut activists from the city’s Mirpur area, including a Dhaka University student Farabi Khan Anik.
The others have been identified as Mohammad Faysal who runs the ‘Artisan Coaching Centre’ at Kalyanpur, Tejgaon College student Jamilur Reza Nobin and Mirpur University College students Tanvir Ahammed and Mostofa Morsalin Prangan.
On Monday (Nov 26), they were produced before the court, which granted police three days to grill the suspects in custody.
Hizb ut-Tahrir appeared on Bangladesh’s political scene in 2000. The home ministry banned the outfit in 2009.
Nine months later, it published a draft of its constitution where it said that it would lead Bangladesh and turn it into “an Islamic republic.” It had also secretly circulated leaflets.
Taqiuddin Al Nabhani formed Hizb ut-Tahrir in 1953 in Jerusalem. The outfit is against democracy and said to be active in 40 countries.
The outfit had always tried to recruit students of public and private universities through study circles across Dhaka. In the very beginning, it, however, now and then calls “devoted military officers and law enforcers” to bring the Awami League-led government to establish Caliphate.
Hizbut was not on the radar of the law enforcers initially as it was not involved in terror activities. However, later on, it anti-state activities led the government to ban it.
Since 2015, as many as 49 activists of the outfit, most of them students of colleges and universities, have arrested across the country, according to media reports.
According to a counterterrorism officer, Hizb ut-Tahrir operates its organisation with a longe-term strategy.
“They target meritorious students as they believe it would make the job of establishing Caliphate in the future if its activists are in the administration,” said the Dhaka metro police officer asking not to be named.
Police say its operatives, who had laid low for quite some time now, have recently resurfaced, evident from walls in Dhaka littered with posters calling for “establishing the Caliphate”.
Witnesses said on Thursday (Nov 22), some of its activist distributed leaflets at the capital’s Bangla Motor area.
Surprise procession at Shahbagh
Amid its underground activities, Hizb ut-Tahrir took out a surprise procession near Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection on Monday (Nov 26).
Around 25 to 30 people, several of them donning orange t-shirts with slogans written, were in procession with a banner and flags.
Soon after a video clip of the procession started to make round on the social media. It was seen that the procession on the street in front of the Hotel InterContinental was heading towards Paribagh.
Police said one of its units rushed to the scene soon after it was reported but found no one.
“We are trying to identify them from video footages,” Shahbagh police OC Abul Hasan said.