E-Paper
'Free Bengal from Modi's rule': Bangladeshi pro-al Qaeda Islamist asks CM Mamata Banerjee
Jashimuddin Rahmani also sought help from Pakistan and Afghanistan for the ‘independence in Jammu and Kashmir’
Days after his release by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh, Jashimuddin Rahmani, chief of Islamist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team has asked West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to “free Bengal from Modi's rule and declare its independence”.
According to media reports, Rahmani also sought help from Pakistan and Afghanistan for the ‘independence in Jammu and Kashmir’. The Ansarullah Bangla Team is an offshoot of the al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) – a banned outfit in India.
Rahmani made the remarks in a video, which has gone viral and was likely shot at a hospital. According to India Today, a Dhaka-based fact-checker has confirmed the authenticity of the video.
Also Read | Rise of Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh political conundrum
Rahmani was arrested in 2013 in connection with the killing of Ahmed Rajib Haider – an atheist blogger critical of radical Islam. He was accused of inciting students to kill Haider to protect Islam.
“I am warning India…Bangladesh is not like Sikkim or Bhutan. It is a country of 18 crore Muslims…If you take a step towards Bangladesh, we will tell China to close the chicken’s neck [Siliguri corridor]. We will tell the Seven Sisters [Northeastern states] to join the freedom movement,” Rahmani was quoted as saying by The Print in the viral video.
“Tell Kashmir to get ready for freedom. Pakistan and Afghanistan together will help Kashmir gain independence. We will work for the freedom of Kashmir. We will tell Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal to free Bengal from Modi’s rule and declare independence. I will tell the Sikhs that your time has come, now call for freedom; to those Sikhs who are Khalistanis, in every province of India, your time has come,” he added.
Also Read | ‘Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh exaggerated’: Muhammad Yunus questions India
‘Flags of the Tawhid will flutter above Delhi’
The Islamic radical also said that Bangladesh does not wish to have conflict with any country in the world, including India, China, Europe and the US, but will retaliate if they are challenged or neglected.
“If we are challenged, if we are neglected, if chaos is created in our country, then the Tawhid population of Bangladesh, just like it has risen against [Sheikh] Hasina, to protect the freedom of Bangladesh, to protect Islam in Bangladesh, the Tawhid will unite to face you in the field,” he says, according to Print.
He added: “The day is not far when your country too will be broken and the flags of the Tawhid will flutter above Delhi.”
Former Banlagesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a mass uprising, sparked by students over government job quotas. She fled to India on August 5.
