US embassy cable - 05DHAKA4206

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 004206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, CASC, PREL, BG, Terrorism 
SUBJECT: HEALTH MINISTER BLAMES FOREIGN SOURCES FOR AUGUST 
17 ATTACKS 
 
Classified By: Acting Pol/Econ Counselor David Renz, reasons 1.4(d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: During a meeting with the Health Minister, 
CDA discussed the August 17 attacks, the general and law and 
order situation, and the impact on Bangladesh's image. 
Hussein blamed outside sources (India) for the attacks.  He 
said the reason for political violence is not religious, it's 
geo-political.  End Summary. 
 
2.    (U) CDA Judith Chammas met August 22 with Health 
Minister Khondaker Musharraf Hussein.  Econoff (note taker) 
accompanied the CDA for the one-hour meeting. 
 
3.    (C) The Health Minister told CDA that he does not 
believe that the accused fundamentalist groups are behind the 
August 17 attack.  He thinks that these "minor fringe groups" 
could not carry out such a planned and coordinated attack and 
suggested a larger, more organized interest is responsible. 
He said India has geo-political interests in this country and 
therefore has genuine reasons to be involved in Bangladesh. 
He pointed to the issues surrounding the seven sisters and 
India's lack of control over this region as motives for 
India's involvement in such actions in Bangladesh.  He said, 
"there is only a 17 kilometer strip of land that connects 
India to the seven sisters.  Bangladesh is in the unfortunate 
position of being stuck in the middle." 
 
3. (C) In response to CDA's observation that this incident 
clearly points to the presence of extremism in this country, 
the Minister said it is more likely that whoever is behind 
the attack wants to create the perception that there is 
extremism in this country.  He said there is no need for 
Islamic extremism in this country.  Extremism, and its 
associated violence, only occurs when a group feels isolated 
from the mainstream and is deprived economically or socially. 
 He referred to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) situation as 
an example of unrest caused by isolation and loss of 
resources.  He said that the tribal violence in the CHT 
exists because the indigenous tribes were deprived of their 
farmland and livelihood when the Kaptai dam was built in the 
Pakistan era in the 1960s. 
 
4.  (C) In contrast, there is no such current or historical 
problem associated with the Muslims in Bangladesh, Hussein 
said.  Almost the whole country is Muslim and the forces in 
power are Muslim.  There is no reason for extremists to feel 
isolated or deprived and thus resort to violence.  He alleged 
that some other larger force, namely India, is trying to 
further tarnish the image of the country and create 
instability. 
 
5.  (C) Speaking to concerns over the need for more effective 
investigations, he pointed to last year's August 21 attacks 
against the opposition leadership, saying the investigation 
has shown that the Awami League (AL) was behind the attack on 
its own people.  He said members of the AL have admitted to 
involvement and even disclosed how they planned and executed 
it.  He conceded that it is hard to understand why a party 
would want to attack itself and it would take further probing 
to get to the actual motives behind last year's attack. 
 
6.  (C) Minister Hussein admitted that the PM sees the August 
17 incident as a "wake-up call", and the PM is determined to 
take the necessary actions to get to the bottom of these 
attacks.  However, he said, there are forces within the 
government that do not cooperate with the PM.  When pressed 
on whom these people were, he said that there are civil 
bureaucrats who do not see themselves as servants of the 
republic.  They have political affiliations and take action 
based on party politics.  AL backers in the civil service 
would not genuinely work to resolve persisting law and order 
issues and improve the country's image.  The Minister also 
pointed to corruption and inefficiency at the lower levels of 
police and investigators as other reasons for lack of 
effective investigations into acts of political violence. 
 
7. (C)  Comment: Civil Aviation Minister Mir Nasiruddin also 
told us on August 23 that India is to blame for the attacks. 
It comes as no surprise that the BDG has immediately resorted 
to blaming foreign sources for the August 17 attacks.  It is 
notable, however, that other parties have also started 
pointing fingers at India.  On August 22, Jatiyo Party 
Secretary General told us that he and his party's Chairman, 
 
SIPDIS 
former Bangladesh President Ershad, also suspect India to be 
behind this attack.  As a close PM confidant and a senior 
cabinet minister, Khondaker Hussein's admission that the PM 
considers this a "wake-up call" shows a shift in BDG's stance 
towards increasing political violence.  Unlike in the past, 
BDG is showing political willingness to taking the situation 
seriously.  However, his comments about obstructionist 
bureaucrats reveals BDG fears as to their ability to 
effectively investigate and solve this case.  End Comment. 
CHAMMAS