This dyad belongs to the conflict Bangladesh: Government
Summary of conflict Bangladesh: Government
The armed conflict over government control in Bangladesh became active in 2005, but has deeper historical roots: the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) is one of many armed, Maoist insurgencies to have operated in the country since before Bangladeshi independence (1971). By the early 1990s, PBCP’s ideology was reported to have shifted from pure Maoism to a mixture of communist ideas, combining Naxalite ideology, Maoism, orthodox Marxism-Leninism and even Cuban communism.The splinter group PBCP-Janajuddha emerged at least as early as 2004 and resembles its predecessor in that it fought, nominally, to achieve a socialist revolution in Bangladesh. To fund their struggle, the groups often engaged in extortion, kidnapping, and contract killings. During 2005 and 2006, the PBCP and PBCP-J clashed on many occasions with Bangladeshi law enforcement units, especially the elite and aggressive Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which was created for the express purpose of dealing with the PBCP and other Maoist organizations.
PBCP and PBCP-Janajuddha and the History of Maoism in Bangladesh
The Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) and the Purbo Banglar Communist Party - Janajuddha Faction (PBCP-J) are two of many Bangladeshi groups to have pursued revolutionary class struggle against the Bangladeshi state. These organizations are collectively known as the Bangladeshi Maoists, because they adhere to Maoist political and guerrilla teachings. The original Maoist groups- the forerunners of the modern PBCP-J - aligned themselves with Pakistan and China against Bangladeshi nationalists and the Soviet Union during the 1971 war for Bangladeshi independence from Pakistan. These groups have sustained a low-level urban and guerrilla insurgency against the Bangladeshi state and its civilians since the 1970s.
PBCP and PBCP-J can claim descent from Bangladesh’s original Communist political party: The Communist Party of East Pakistan (CPEP). The members of the CPEP split in the 1960s into several distinct parties along pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese alignments. One faction- the East Bengal Workers Movement (EBWM)- espoused a Maoist political ideology. The EBWM, itself, split several times throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In turn, the EBWM’s splinter groups split into yet more factions, all of which continued to espouse Maoist ideologies and support for armed struggle against the Bangladeshi central government.
Though PBCP and PBCP-J continued to struggle nominally for a Communist revolution, the group came to resemble a mafia organization: its members have often extorted money from the Bangladeshi populace and hired themselves out as enforcers or contract killers. The groups has operated throughout most of Bangladesh but has been especially active in Khulna Division and, to a lesser extent, Rajshahi Division. Typically, individual cells used rural and isolated hideouts from which to launch operations into villages and towns.
