Citizens in Windsor disavow Chowdhury
Bangladeshi-Canadians horrified by terrorist acts
OTTAWA — Members of Canada’s Bangladeshi community disavowed an Ontario resident killed over the weekend who Bangladesh police say masterminded a terrorist attack last month.
Tamim Chowdhury was among three suspected militants killed by police near Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday. Bangladeshi police allege Chowdhury, who lived in Windsor, was one of two masterminds of the July 1 attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka that left 20 people dead.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the restaurant attack, but authorities have denied the claim. They say it was the act of the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, and that ISIL has no presence in the Muslimmajority country.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said the government was aware of news reports that Chowdhury had been killed, and that Canadian officials were in contact with Bangladeshi authorities.
Little is known about Chowdhury. The Dhaka Tribune, citing Bangladeshi police, said Chowdhury arrived from Canada in 2013 to reorganize the JMB. It said his grandfather opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, and that the family moved to Canada later that year.
Abdul Quaiyum, president of the Bangladesh Canada Association of Windsor Essex, said the Chowdhury family was known in the community, though not very well. He said he had not spoken to Chowdhury’s parents since news of their son’s death.
Quaiyum said there are about 1,000 Bangladeshi-Canadians in Windsor. He said many are engineers or other professionals who are hardworking and peaceful, and that the community condemns the type of violence that police have accused Chowdhury of.
“The Bangladeshi community here condemns this, we hate this, and we don’t like this,” he said.
Other leaders from Canada’s 100,000-strong Bangladeshi community had similar reactions. Mohammed Ali, president of the Bangladesh Association of Hamilton, said he was angry. “This guy was against Bangladesh,” Ali said. “We don’t support terrorism anywhere, anyway. No Canadian, no human can support these things.”