“Their calling card was a bomb and a written declaration of war on Bangladesh’s constitution and democracy.” How long will it take the governments of the world to realize that the jihad movement from Indonesia to England has the same goal — to restore the caliphate and institute Sharia wherever possible — and respond accordingly? From Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
RAJSHAHI, Bangladesh, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Their calling card was a bomb and a written declaration of war on Bangladesh’s constitution and democracy.
Across the length and breadth of Bangladesh, outside its most secure and important buildings, Islamic militants exploded 500 small bombs in just half an hour last month.
Leaflets made the threat explicit: establish an Islamic state under sharia law or we will bring the country to its knees.
The power and organisational ability of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, (the Party of Holy Warriors) came as a shock to Bangladesh — and to the rest of the world. But in Rajshahi district in the country’s wild west, their extreme views and brutal sense of drama came as no surprise at all.
On April 1, 2004, the group announced their presence to the people of Bagmara town with the stabbed and chopped-up body of a supposed bandit, and a call for an armed Islamic revolution.
“They chanted ‘long live al Qaeda’, ‘Bangladesh will be the next Afghanistan’ and ‘we are the soldiers of al Qaeda’,” said farmer Abdul Bari, who saw their first rally.
A few weeks later, 2,000 supporters marched through Rajshahi city under police escort, green strips of cloth around their heads, hockey sticks, iron bars and machetes in their hands.