Hasina recalled how senior members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) while in power visited Afghanistan and received training from Taliban.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has warned the radicals against attempts to encourage Taliban ideology in the country and has decried sustained moves by pro-Pak forces to create instability in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh PM further appealed to citizens to remain vigilant against moves to prevent any spread of radical ideas. “During the erstwhile BNP rule slogans like We are all Taleban and Bangla will become Afghan were gaining traction. The current government has countered this ideology by  emphasising on founding principles of creation of Bangladesh,” she emphasised during a recent interview to state run Bangladesh Television.

Hasina recalled how senior members of BNP while in power visited Afghanistan and received training by Taliban. “These figures launched attacks on then Opposition Awami League on their return,” the PM further recalled and referred to several attempts by Pak-backed BNP to vitiate the atmosphere in Bangladesh.

These comments by the Bangladesh PM are significant following Taliban takeover in Kabul that might tempt some radical forces in Bangladesh to plan. ET has learnt Bangladesh’s security establishment is keeping a close watch on organisations that could attempt to create instability in the country with support from Pakistan.

Bangladesh has a history of its nationals travelling to Afghanistan to join mujahideen ranks and Taliban in the 1990s when the Opposition BNP was in power. JMB with roots in Afghan theatre had launched a series of terror attacks in Bangladesh till Hasina clamped down following her return to power.

The JMB was believed to have contained at least 10,000 members and had an extensive network of organisations. In two separate incidents in 2015, it was discovered that JMB had been allegedly receiving financing from officers at the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka. Visa Attache, Mazhar Khan, was caught red-handed at a meeting with a JMB operative in April 2015, who said that they were involved in pushing large consignments of fake Indian currency into West Bengal and Assam. In another incident Second Secretary (Dhaka based Pakistan High Commision), Farina Arshad, was expelled by Bangladesh in December 2015.