NEW DELHI, October 15 (IslamOnline)- When the American “war against terror” began in Afghanistan, most of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters simply melted away. The Taliban went back to their tribes and most Al-Qaeda men dispersed over a wide area.

The latest issue of Time magazine says nearly 150 of them made their way to Bangladesh, embarking a ship at Karachi in Pakistan, sailing around India, finally landing at Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The magazine says the Taliban-Al-Qaeda fighters came in December 2001, and soon vanished into the Ukhia region which has been host to militants of different nationalities and causes.

Time claims they find support from the two Islamist parties that are part of the Bangladesh ruling coalition-Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic Oikya Jote. The latter is supposed to be a supporter of Taliban and Al-Qaeda and is said to be linked with Pakistan-based Harkatul Jihad Islami (HUJI).

HUJI is said to have “been involved in scores of bombings, including two attempted assassinations of the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.” HUJI is also said to be under the watch of the Indian intelligence agencies for its alleged links with Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) which is active in the Indian part of Kashmir.

The present government of Bangladesh, headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has been accused of being soft on Islamic fundamentalists. Her heading a coalition government with two Islamist parties as coalition partners has not gone down well with secularists.

Time magazine seems to concentrate on HUJI more than anyone else. It quotes the ominous HUJI slogan: Amra sobai hobe Taliban, Bangla hobe Afghanistan (We will all be Taliban, Bangladesh will be Afghanistan).

Time says Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JIB) “is the main force behind the phenomenal growth of “unlicensed” madrasahs, known as qaumi madrasahs, in the past decade. There are now an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 such madrasahs in Bangladesh of which 30 to 40, run by mujahideen veterans, are known to shelter militants and recruit fresh fighters.”

The magazine, however, is not sure about Al-Qaeda’s links with JIB or Oikya Jote, which it says, “may be largely rhetorical.” However, Bangladesh’s military intelligence service, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), does not seem to get the benefit of the doubt.

Prime Minister Zia has twice denied any Taliban connection. In a preponderantly Muslim country like Bangladesh, a government like Zia’s, which accommodates parties with an Islamic vision, always runs the risk of being branded as soft on Taliban or al Qaeda.

The same precarious situation obtains at madrasahs as well. By their very nature, by the mere fact of being seminaries of Islam, they too tend to come easily under the shadow of doubt under the current scaremongering.

The magazine quotes a former Burmese rebel saying three camps for training of Islamic militants have closed since October.