From The Hindu, with thanks to Fanabba:
DHAKA: The United States has named the Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami organisation of Bangladesh as a “terrorist group” having links with the Al-Qaeda.
The group has been listed in the “selected terrorist groups” in the U.S. State Department’s “Country Reports on Terrorism for 2004,” released recently. “Bangladesh supports the global war on terror but its ability to combat terrorism is undermined by various factors and its long practice of moderate Islam is increasingly under threat from extremists,” says the report released on April 27. It mentioned Harakat’s suspected involvement in an attempt on the life of the former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and in explosions at cultural gatherings in many parts of the country.
Aim of Islamic rule
The avowed mission of Harakat is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. It has connections to Pakistani militant groups such as Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami and Harakat ul-Mujahidin, which advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir, said the report adding, “these groups all maintain contacts with the Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan.” The report said Bangladesh’s long tradition of inclusive, moderate Islam is increasingly under threat from extremists.
As I have pointed out many times, there is no “moderate Islam.” There are moderate Muslims, although among these there is a significant number of those who are being duplicitous, and others who are essentially a recruitment field for jihadists who base their appeal on the Qur’an and Sunnah. That is what is happening in Bangladesh and elsewhere today, and so far those who identify themselves as Islamic reformers have mounted no effective response.