Internet and Radicalization in Bangladesh

Since February 2015 ve self-proclaimed atheist on-line activists/bloggers and a publisher have been brutally killed in Bangladesh. An India-based al-Qaeda group named al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Bangladesh based militant group named Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) reportedly claimed responsibility for most of these killings. These incidents have been widely covered in the global media and have stoked the fear that militant groups have gained strength. Additionally, two foreign nationals were killed and several others were attacked by assailants. Equally if not more ominously, there were two attacks on the Shi’a community in October and November 2015. IslamicState (IS) has claimed responsibilities for the killings and attacks on the Shi’a community. Recently, three high-profle incidents indicate the strength of a new wave of violent extremism in Bangladesh. On the night of 1 July 2016, extremists took hostages and opened re on the Holey Artisan Bakery in
Gulshan; 29 people were killed, including 20 hostages (18 foreigners and 2 locals), 2 police offcers, 5 gunmen, a chef of the bakery and later at hospital,
and an assistant of a chef. Within less than a week, on 7 July, four people, including two policemen, a woman and a suspected assailant, died in the attack near Sholakia Eidgah where hundreds of thousands had gathered forEid congregation. Most recently, nine suspected militants have been killed in an early morning raid on a hideout in Dhaka’s Kallyanpur on 26 July. The nature of recent extremism is different from what it was before because of its increasing dependence on Internet for attracting aspirant recruits, propagating their goals, recruiting new members, and even providing their members trainings, and lessons for real life operations. Hence, the increasingly “tech-savvy” nature of militant groups in Bangladesh, including those who claim to represent IS/AQIS, is a significant recent development.
The number of internet users in Bangladesh has been growing very rapidly.The low cost of cell phones and the ease with which cellular service can be acquired have greatly expanded the use of smart phone based communication. It is estimated that as of September 2015, there are 120million active SIM cards, the eighth largest number in the world. Also, there are more than ten million Facebook users in Bangladesh. (Internet Live Stats,2015) These advances in ICT have facilitated the cyber-presence of radical individuals and groups, particularly in social media of Bangladesh.