SUMMARY
BCP (Biplobi Communist Party) is a Bangladeshi outlawed communist political party and insurgent movement. The BCP mainly portrays itself as a Maoist organization, with one of its early leaders claiming that the main role of the outfit is to "extract peoples rights from the powerful" by any means necessary. The Government of Bangladesh claims that BCP is little more than a group of robbers, extortionists and bandits ("dacoits"), using communist ideology only as a facade to justify and legitimize organized crime. BCP members, as well as members of other Bangladeshi communist insurgent groups are collectively referred to as "Sarbahara" (have-nots or proletariat).
The BCP operates primarily in the Chalan Beel marshlands of South-Western Bangladesh, mainly in districts along the Indian border - a relatively isolated, poor, predominantly rural area. BCPs areas of operations overlap significantly with that of other, rival, Communist movements, such as the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) and the Purbo Bangla Sarbahara Party (PBSP). This overlap in territory combined with different ideologies, triggered a long-standing campaign of violence between the groups over control of territory and areas of influence.
There is little information on the history of the group, other than that it originates from the radical underground Communist movements that existed in East Pakistan before Bangladeshs independence in 1973. What is known is that the group was relatively active in the late 1980s and early 1990s in various low-scale violent activities, such as extortion, assaults and various forms of robbery, with relatively little political activity noticeable. During this time, the Government of Bangladesh devoted significant effort to destroying BCP as well as the other Communist insurgent movements.
Reports suggest that BCP weakened significantly in the late 1990s, as both internal and external pressures took their toll on the organization. There are indications that the group splintered a number of times, most notably in 1997, when Ilyas Dilip, described to be an important member of BCP, left the organization and formed Sramajibi Mukti Andolon, a group that only existed for a few years. Government action was also important, as a large-scale police offensive followed by an amnesty may have led to the destabilization of the group. The police operation took place between 23 April 1999 and 7 May 1999 and led to the arrest of 13.500 suspected militants, many of which BCP members, while the amnesty, granted between 1 June 1999 and 30 July 1999 may have furthered the decline of the group.
A renaissance of the BCP did occur at some time after 2002, as the activity of the group intensified. Confirming this regained power, BCP issued bomb threats against Prabartan newspaper on 1 July 2004, in what could be described as an important and atypical operation for an outfit more specialized in kidnappings, extortion and assaults.
Very limited information exists on the leadership, strength and overall organization of the group. Reports give numerous names of BCP leaders (Comrade Henry appearing in a 1998 report, Hafiz in 1999, Debu Prasad in 2003, Habibur Rahman in 2004), however, the overall positions these individuals occupy in the hierarchy of the group is unknown. Further, the organization seems highly fragmented, with reports indicating the possible existence of various loosely tied factions (including one calling itself the “New Biplobi Communist Party”). Governmental estimates put the membership number of all Sarbahara groups (including BCP) at approximately 2000 cadres.
BCP has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
