BNP-Jamaat joins hands with Ghazwa-e-Hind plotters
By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
Following recent mayhem in Bangladesh that resulted in loss of public properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars and loss of above US$7 billion to country’s economy, Al Qaeda-connected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is led by convicted terrorist Tarique Rahman and their ideological ally – Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) have mobilized their members and activists in pushing-forward massive propaganda campaign in support of “Ghazwa-e-Hind”.
A number of radical Islamic militancy outfits, including Al Qaeda have been promoting “Ghazwa-e-Hind”, an ideology based on some controversial narratives of Prophet of Islam. According to these groups, since its formation, AQIS has focused on “Ghazwa-e-Hind” (the righteous battle in India), an ideology based on some contested Prophetic narratives. AQIS invokes the following Prophetic traditions to justify its jihad in India: Prophet Muhammad promised Muslims the “Jihad of Hind” stating – “If I get a chance to be part of that then I will spend my whole wealth and life in that. Then if I am martyred, I will become the best of martyrs and if I return alive, then I will be free from hell”.
Some Muslim researchers and academics opine that these Prophetic narratives are fake.
Meanwhile, the nexus of Islamists, militants and terrorists led by BNP and Jamaat made frantic bids in spreading dangerous disinformation stating, members of Indian security agencies and “crisis management experts” arrived in Bangladesh following July 18 mayhem under the garb of student’s protests and taught law enforcement agency members how to shoot at eyes and heads of the protestors. They also spread rumor stating, “Indian agents” melted into the mob of demonstrators and led the destructive activities targeting key-point installation [state-owned Bangladesh Television (BTV)] and other infrastructural establishments.
They also claim, “India took revenge of Bangladesh nationals boycotting Indian products following January 7 election” by sending their trained personnel to Bangladesh.
BNP-Jamaat nexus further claims, once Awami League government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina loses power, India will immediately attack Bangladesh. Citing reference to a November 26,1975 CIA report titled “Indian military capabilities for intervention in Bangladesh” – BNP-Jamaat states, CIA has provided map of Indian invasion of Bangladesh.
The Islamist, militancy and terrorist nexus further claims, during July 17-24 “student protests” twenty-million students came on the street without “help, support and funding of anyone”.
In the propaganda content, BNP-Jamaat nexus states : “There is a Mossad activist named Richard Benkin. Born in America. For the past 20 years, he has been going to the remote villages of India, sitting with RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] leaders and telling the common people why they need to invade Bangladesh. After 1971, when the Indian army left Bangladesh, they looted and took away everything. It burned what it could not take. They are still mad at you. They rejoice at your brother’s death. They cheer by hanging your sister. Why are you quiet?”
In reality, Richard Benkin is neither an activist of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, nor he has any relations with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He has been running anti-Bangladesh propaganda by collecting donation from Hindus in Bangladesh and India by falsely proclaiming as an American citizen with “deeper connections” with Israeli Mossad, prominent figures in Israel as well as American lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican Party. Prominent cohorts of Benkin in India are Amitabh Tripathy (member of Benkin’s organization named ‘Forcefield NFP’) and shipan kumar Basu (a fraud who is currently on run following infamous SSC scandal in West Bengal, India) and few others while in Bangladesh he is patronized by a local English newspaper named Asian Age. According to the Chicago Tribune and the Associated Press report, in 2020 he was accused of running a fake nursing home and luring helpless females in the facility in having physical relations.
According to report published in Blitz, for the past two decades, an American national named Richard Benkin has been enjoying almost a saintly image amongst Hindus in India while he also emerged into the neo-Messiah or savior of Baluch and lately Afghans. On social media platforms and through his website called ‘Interfaith Strength’, Richard Benkin was regularly boasting of “great success” in pursuing cases in favor of Hindus and Baluch in the US Congress and Senate as he claimed to be having connections in the US Capitol. But his efforts were no charity or selfless actions.
Visiting his Facebook profile, people would see a photograph displayed as ‘Featured Photo’, where Richard Benkin is seen with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He surely is displaying this photo to fool everyone with the false impression of being an individual having connections with the Indian PM. In reality, this photograph was taken almost two decades ago when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujrat. Onwards, Narendra Modi never granted him any further meeting appointment as by then he came to know about Benkin’s dubious activities and extracting cash from Hindus.
One may ask – why BNP-Jamaat propaganda material contains name of Richard Benkin. Is it because he has lately joined hands with BNP through Shipan Kumer Basu – a longtime paid agent of the Al Qaeda connected party?
Blitz