Did the laundered money end with JamaatisIJ
Indian authorities must immediately investigate if money from the Saradha scam was indeed diverted to fund the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. Reports to this effect have been doing the rounds for a while now and even the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation have said that there is a definite possibility that the crores of rupees swindled from small investors in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha were funnelled out of the country. But now the matter has gained larger proportions as the Government of Bangladesh has officially brought it before New Delhi. On Friday, visiting Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali conveyed his concerns to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. This is a rare move that would not have been made without enough concrete evidence. If the Jamaat is found to be a beneficiary, then the Saradha scam is no longer just another white collar crime or an international money laundering scheme. It becomes a national security concern, not for one but two countries. The Jamaat, which considers India to be its sworn enemy, has never had the best interests of Bangladesh at heart either. last year, it unleashed a reign of terror in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina started the war crimes trial of the 1971 liberation war (during which the Jamaatis had collaborated with Pakistan to the crush the Bengali nationalist movement). That the alleged transfer of Saradha funds to the Jamaat coincides with the time during which the Islamist group was running a sustained campaign of violence and anarchy in Bangladesh, so as to destabilise the Government and disrupt the democratic process in general, is a matter of deep concern.
Of equal concern is the alleged involvement of an elected Indian Member of Parliament in this matter. Reportedly, Trinamool Congress MP Ahmad Hassan Imran is the channel through which Saradha funds were diverted to the Jamaat. Mr Imran, who is the editor of a Bengali newspaper that was part of the Saradha group's media empire, is believed to have had close connections with the Jamaati leadership in Bangladesh and also with Islamist leaders in West Asia. Though Mr Imran has denied these allegations, it is difficult to take his word at face value, given that in the early 1980s, he simultaneously served as chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami in eastern India and the Students Islamic Movement of India (which is now a proscribed organisation). To make matters worse, it is unlikely that Mr Imran was in this alone. As investigations into the Saradha scam have progressed, the top leadership of the Trinamool Congress has come under a cloud. Also, the party had reportedly received funding from the Jamaat's India franchise for its 2011 electoral campaign. Add to this the incumbent regime’s blatant Muslim appeasement policies and the communally sensitive environment it has created in West Bengal, and you have a rather disturbing picture emerging.