Bangladesh coup plot by military & Hizb ut Tahrir members fails

from Creeping Sharia:

Bangladesh coup plot by military & Hizb ut Tahrir members fails

Posted on January 21, 2012 by creeping

via AFP: Bangladesh coup plot raises fears of army ‘Islamisation’.

DHAKA — A failed plot to oust the Bangladesh government, by what the army described as “religiously fanatic” officers, has raised questions over the level of Islamist penetration in the military, analysts say.

The army — Bangladesh’s key secular institution — said the plot was unearthed in December and involved some non-resident Bangladeshis, around 16 serving and retired officers and the outlawed Islamist outfit Hizbut Tahrir.

A major general, who heads one of the country’s largest cantonments, was recalled to Dhaka, while two former officers including a colonel were arrested.

“I am worried because radical, extremist views within a disciplined and secular force is unexpected,” said Delwar Hossain, a professor of Dhaka University, who teaches security issues and international relations.

“It can have profound implications,” Hossain told AFP.

…

Although the military regimes appeased Islamic activists by enshrining “absolute faith in Allah” in the constitution and making Islam the state religion, they always took care not to undermine the army’s secular status.

Some observers queried how serious the latest coup plot actually was, and suggested the army’s focus on it’s “religious” nature was meant as a warning to Islamist factions within the military.

“It looks like it may not have been a coup, but rather a dissension or disorder, which the army has been struggling to overcome in its evolution as a disciplined force,” said Ataur Rahman, a senior researcher at the National University of Singapore and an expert on the Bangladesh military.

“By talking quite openly about a failed coup… the military wants to send a clear message that it’ll not tolerate any drift towards religious extremism,” Rahman said.

Reuters:

Brigadier General Muhammad Masud Razzaq (r.) talks during a media briefing in Dhaka on Friday. The Bangladesh army said on Thursday it foiled a coup attempt by retired and serving officers late last month which intelligence sources said was driven by a campaign to introduce Sharia law throughout the majority Muslim country.

Much more on Hizb ut Tahrir in these prior Creeping Sharia posts – including several of their meetings pushing sharia in the U.S.