In a development that could have serious security implications for India, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed is reportedly planning to open a new front of terror operations through Bangladesh. According to a senior LeT commander, Saeed has dispatched one of his closest associates, Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, to Bangladesh to radicalise local youth and train them for jihad against India.
During a fiery speech at a rally in Pakistan’s Khairpur Tamewali on October 30, Lashkar commander Saifullah Saif publicly declared that LeT operatives were already active in Bangladesh, referring to it as “East Pakistan.” “Our people are active in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and are ready to respond to India,” Saif proclaimed.
“That Bengal which Indira Gandhi said had drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal — today, by Allah’s grace, lions like Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer are roaring inside Bangladesh,” he is heard saying in a video obtained by India Today.
Invoking Operation Sindoor: What is Saeed’s dangerous rhetoric
In a chilling message, Saif also invoked Operation Sindoor, India’s recent counter-terror action following the Pahalgam terror attack, calling it a “victory for the Pakistan Army.” He claimed, “If you have learnt the lesson of jihad, Allah has made you a superpower in the world. India was attacking you, America was with them, but now they have all sat down. Allah has established you in the world.”
This rhetoric, echoing Hafiz Saeed’s extremist worldview, signals that Pakistan-based terror groups could be preparing a coordinated propaganda and infiltration campaign from Bangladesh’s soil. Further, alarming new intelligence also signals that Pakistan-based terrorists are actively plotting for attacks on India.
Zaheer’s movements inside Bangladesh
Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, the General Secretary of Pakistan Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadis and a known confidant of Saeed, was recently spotted in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, on October 25. News report suggest that he has been touring sensitive districts near the India-Bangladesh border, including Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, and Rangpur, with plans to visit Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Joypurhat, and Nagaon.
Zaheer is also scheduled to address a major Salafi conference in Rajshahi on November 6–7, a gathering intelligence agencies fear could be used to recruit or indoctrinate extremists under religious cover.
Why Pakistan’s military visit raises eyebrows?
Zaheer’s visit overlaps with that of Pakistan’s Joint Chief of Staff Committee Chairman, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, who arrived in Dhaka on October 24 with a six-member delegation. Though the visit was officially “bilateral,” the timing has raised concerns among Indian intelligence circles that Islamabad may be attempting to reassert influence in Bangladesh through both diplomatic and covert channels.
Hafiz Saeed and his Lashkar-e-Taiba are the masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2001 Parliament assault. Though Saeed is currently serving a 78-year prison term in Pakistan, intelligence agencies believe he continues to direct operations through intermediaries with backing from elements within Pakistan’s military establishment.