Violence is hitting Bangladesh hard these days, with radical groups gaining ground in many institutions. But one key player has mostly stayed clear of the chaos: the Bangladesh army. Now, though, Indian intelligence sources are raising alarms about a dangerous push to overhaul the army into an Islamist force, much like Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This all ramps up after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s sudden ouster. Back then, the army stepped in to call for calm and law and order. Today, it stands by quietly as radicals from the ruling setup take charge. At the heart of this shift sits Jamaat-e-Islami, a group with deep sway over Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government. Yunus relies heavily on Jamaat’s support, and insiders say the outfit closely follows orders from Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI.
Recent buzz includes ISI officials visiting Bangladesh and a hush-hush trip by Bangladesh’s DGFI intelligence agency to Pakistan. There, they talked about reshaping the army along radical lines. Many officers in the Bangladesh army still push back against this radicalization trend. Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman started out by keeping distance from extremists and pushing for a return to normal life, with elections to boot. His allies echoed that call, hoping to sideline the radicals.
But Jamaat’s growing clout and ISI interference have swayed some army insiders toward the radicals. The DGFI and ISI have teamed up since Bangladesh’s Liberation War days, even plotting attacks on minorities and mass illegal crossings into India. Now, a new outfit called the Islamic Revolutionary Army is emerging, backed by Yunus and driven by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (ADSM). What began as a student protest is morphing into an armed militia.
The ADSM isn’t hiding its plans. First up: a big push for martial arts training across the board. Next, army officers would step in to lead more advanced drills. The goal? Build this group strong enough to merge right into the Bangladesh army. To pull it off, DGFI and ISI reps have met multiple times—not just in Pakistan, but even in Spain. Bangladesh’s closer ties with Turkey lately add to the worries about what’s brewing.
Pakistan’s ISI first hit roadblocks from army and DGFI holdouts, but they’ve cracked enough insiders to start weakening the military from within. If an Islamic Revolutionary Army takes over and sidelines the regular Bangladesh army, experts warn it could shake the whole region. India is already on edge about rising terror groups in Bangladesh threatening its northeastern states and West Bengal. An institutionalized terror force at the border would crank up those risks even more, making security a nightmare.
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