Shadow Government in Bangladesh

Dhaka , Bangladesh, April 01 — Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a vital role in a developing country like Bangladesh. According to Wikipedia, the number of NGOs in Bangladesh is in excess of 20,000.

The news that Islamic NGOs with foreign funds are fueling the Islamic militancy has been bubbling all over Bangladesh. The Daily Star said that suspected NGOs include Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, Al-Muntada Al-Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society, Islamic Relief Agency, Al-Forkan Foundation, International Relief Organisation, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee, Muslim Aid Bangladesh, Dar Al-Khair, Hayatul Igachha, and Tawheed-e-Noor.

The daily New Age of Bangladesh wrote, “During the previous BNP-led alliance government, some 473 local and 25 foreign NGOs were enlisted with the NGO Affairs Bureau. One hundred and twenty-nine of them are local and eight foreign NGOs who were enlisted in the financial year 2006-07. Since 1990, the NGO Bureau has approved 2,367 local and foreign NGOs who run on foreign funding.”

When the Bangladesh National Party-led alliance government was in power, 90,000 crore taka (over US$13 billion) in foreign donations, in the name of 11,000 NGOs, came into Bangladesh. That amount is nearly equal to the government’s financial budget for the year 2009, which is 99,962 crore taka (over US$14.5 billion).

The main process of registering an NGO and funding its operations is highly dependent upon the bureaucracy. That was and is the main reason that NGO activities in Bangladesh have become politicized. As a result of this, during the term of the BNP-led alliance government, the institutional outfit of the Islamic fascist interest triumphed.

The NGO registration process involves some powerful intelligence instruments of the government, such as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the National Security Intelligence (NSI), and the Special Branch of the Bangladesh Police.

There is clear evidence of corruption and political interference in the NGO registration process. The government’s policy is tricky on the issue of NGO registration, especially the NGO affairs bureau, which is under the prime minister’s office in name, but is mainly controlled by intelligence instruments like the DGFI and the NSI. It is notable that there are several Islamic fascist proponents placed in various important government instruments, including intelligence organizations, during the term of the BNP alliance government.

We have had a past record of 34 foreign-funded major Islamic NGOs, 15 of which are very active, back in 2005. In 1999, the intelligence agencies tracked an NGO named Suffering Humanity International, which had vibrant relations with Islamic fascists and the intention to establish an Islamic dictatorship in Bangladesh.

Islamic fascists have fully succeeded in forming a shadow government in Bangladesh. NGOs connected with them have put money in several long-term investments in the banking, health, and education sectors. In a time of need, they could control the market and destabilize the country. This group has infiltrated the media sector, with an ulterior motive to promote ideological propaganda.

This same group is conspiring to bring a new crisis before the government. After the BDR mutiny, the prisons will be their next target in an attempt to destabilize the country, using prisons as places of recruitment to strengthen their terrorist activities. Young people come out of prison, join the terrorist groups outside, and take part in destructive works.

The government should be very clear to make all NGO activities from from the influence of the intelligence agencies and politics, to safeguard the country from further tragedy. The Islamic NGOs have become a shadow government in Bangladesh and the highest threat before Bangladesh, as well as to the security of the south Asian region.