Salam used IDP guise to get Huji into politics

Leaders of banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami wanted to break into mainstream politics through Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) formed last year with Moulana Sheikh Abdus Salam at the helm.

Salam, also founding president of Huji Bangladesh, was arrested on Monday in the August 21 grenade attack case.

But most of his fellow Afghan War veterans who were with him to declare the launch of Huji at a press conference in Dhaka on April 30, 1992, are still at large.

They include field commander Manzur Hasan, Dhaka city President Moulana Delwar Hossain, Publicity Secretary Mufti Shafiqur Rahman and Moulana Mufti Abdul Hye.

Though Huji emerged through an open declaration, the then BNP government appeared indifferent to the potentially alarming developments.

The militant leaders wore sleeveless olive jackets over their salwar kameez during the April 30 press conference at the National Press Club. They sat shoulder to shoulder and boastfully described how they had fought the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

They demanded that Bangladesh be turned into an Islamic state.

Huji spread its tentacles unchallenged till Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government launched a drive against militancy following an attack on late poet Shamsur Rahman in January 1998.

The government however could not do much to arrest the extremist group's advancement.

That it was alive and kicking despite the crackdown was manifest in its attempt to launch an attack on the prime minister in 2000.

After the botched attempt, Huji went into hiding and opted for covert operation and network building.

Beginning in the late 90s, it had been involved in many major terror strikes in the country.

Under growing pressure at home and abroad, the BNP-led four-party alliance government banned the group and arrested a few of its leaders in October 2005.

However, less than a year into the ban, Huji leaders held a public rally in the Baitul Mukarram mosque area under the banner of Sachetan Islami Janata (conscious Islamic people) on August 18, 2006.

They claimed they had appeared in the rally following talks with the then government high-ups.

Talking to The Daily Star at that time, some Huji cadres confirmed that top leaders including Moulana Salam, Moulana Rahmatullah alias Sheikh Farid and ex-BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu's brother Moulana Tajuddin had attended the Baitul Mukarram rally.

Detained Salam Pintu and on-the-run Tajuddin are among the charge-sheeted accused in the August 21 grenade attack case.

Following a public outcry after the rally, the Huji leaders refrained from organising open programmes for the next couple of years.

In the election year 2008, Huji leaders floated IDP and sought registration with the Election Commission.

According to their claims, they formed a 15-member convening committee in May that year and had now detained Moulana Salam as convener.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and Dr Richard L Benkin, an American citizen, helped in efforts to portray IDP in a positive light in the developed countries.

IDP also claimed to have formed committees in all districts.

The EC however rejected its application for registration as the outfit's charter contradicted the constitution of the republic.