Bangla Bhai

Who was Bangla Bhai?

Siddique ul-Islam, known popularly as Bangla Bhai, also known as Aziz ur-Rahman Azizur Rôhman, was a Bangladeshi terrorist and the military commander of the Al Qaeda affiliated radical Islamist organization Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, known in popular usage as the JMJB. Most active in the north-western section of Bangladesh around the Rajshahi region, Bangla Bhai gained a nationwide and worldwide notoriety for bombings and other terrorist activities.

Siddique ul-Islam fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s as a Mujahedin fighter against the USSR during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, where he was presumed to directly report to Osama Bin Laden. Upon his return to Bangladesh, he taught Bengali language for some time. Islam joined the ranks of the JMJB and became the commander of military affairs and an acting member of the Majlis-e-Sura, its decision-making committee. Bangla bhai became infamous for the torture and intimidation of the opponents of JMJB and the minorities. On August 17, 2005, JMJB, under Islam's leadership, launched a nation-wide attack by exploding 500 makeshift bombs. Along with Shaykh Abdur Rahman, Islam is alleged to have masterminded the bombing. In late 2005, a series of suicide bomb attacks rocked Bangladesh. JMJB and Jamaat-al-Mujahedin Bangladesh have claimed responsibility of these attacks.