Challenges from Islamist militants have been an integral part of Bangladesh’s political landscape since the 1980s. Islamist militancy has passed through different phases of silent and active forms, drawing inspiration from conflicts in Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. A vast literature has dealt with Islamist militancy in Bangladesh, but very few works have shed light on who the Bangladeshi Islamist militants are and how they radicalize youths, whom they target for their secret mission of killings, and finally why youths choose to be radicalized, especially with the arrival of Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Bangladesh in 2013. The author conducted nearly 50 in-depth interviews with experts in Bangladesh and reviewed newspaper reports to answer these questions. This paper argues that middle-class youths with urban and secular backgrounds are increasingly being radicalized through cyber space, and diverse groups of people are targeted to carry out killings owing to their perceived ideological divergence. The idea of an apocalyptic Caliphate, a feeling of victimization, a disillusionment with the state and society, and personal distresses are all found to act as catalysts for Islamist radicalization in Bangladesh.

自1980年代以来，伊斯兰激进分子的挑战一直是孟加拉国政治格局不可或缺的一部分。伊斯兰激进分子经历了无声和积极形式的不同阶段，这从利比亚，巴勒斯坦，阿富汗，伊拉克和叙利亚的冲突中汲取了灵感。大量文献涉及孟加拉国的伊斯兰激进分子，但很少有著作揭示孟加拉国伊斯兰激进分子是谁，以及他们如何激怒青年，他们以杀戮的秘密使命为目标，以及为什么青年人选择激进，特别是2013年伊斯兰国和基地组织抵达孟加拉国。作者对孟加拉国的专家进行了近50次深度采访，并查看了报纸报道以回答这些问题。本文认为，具有城市和世俗背景的中产阶级青年正越来越多地通过网络空间激进化，由于意识形态上的差异，各种人群被迫进行杀戮。人们发现，世界末日哈里发的想法，受害的感觉，对国家和社会的幻灭以及个人的困扰都促使孟加拉国伊斯兰激进化。