Jamat sympathizers in Japan are denying the possibility of Himu having any direct connection with the party. But it is a well-known fact that Himu contributed a huge amount to a fund that Jamat was raising in Japan in its drive to build mosques and purchase land for the purpose of building mosques. There is also widespread suspicion among many in Japan that part of al Qaeda money might have been used in mosque acquiring effort of Jamatees from Bangladesh and Pakistan as a convenient covert way of liquidating the amount under strict international surveillance. Japan has always been criticized by the West for lax in control over money laundering efforts by individuals and groups, and during the last couple of years mosques and Muslim prayer halls have mushroomed throughout the country, most of those being operated by Jamat cadres from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Japan's leading daily Yomiuri Shimbun in a front page article on Wednesday about the arrest of five foreign nationals has clearly mentioned Himu to be a leading figure of Jamat-e-Islami Bangladesh in Japan, and also hinted that the Jamat in Bangladesh and Pakistan usually maintain close ties and act in tandem particularly on issues they consider vital for the fundamentalist position that they subscribe. No wonder in Japan the rapport between the two Jamats went very smoothly thanks to the fund transferring capabilities of an internationally wanted convicted murderer, Lionel Dumont.

Another serious accusation against Himu is centered on his mobile phone rental company in Yokosuka city, where the largest US naval base in Japan is located. Police in Japan revealed that they had been monitoring Himu because of suspicions that he was collecting information about the US naval base in Yokosuka. Himu had also set up an office of his mobile phone rental company in a six-story building in front of the main gate of the Yokosuka base. Kanagawa prefecture police is now trying to find out if the office was set up to monitor US military activities.

Police said Himu used two floors of the building -- the first floor for his business and the fourth floor as a living space. The police department of Kanagawa has also said that the members of riot police squad, who keep regular surveillance over activities outside the base, had noticed him frequently watching the military base through binoculars from a window on the fourth floor. When members of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups have attacked American military facilities abroad in the past, members have examined those places prior to attacking. Because of this, police are investigating the role of Himu's cell phone office in Yokosuka and trying to analyze his strange behaviour.

All his dubious activities no doubt show multitude of implications for Japan as well as some other countries, and it will be on the Japanese court to decide the extent of his guilt, if there is any at all. But in one particular field where he has proved himself to be a destroyer with boundless mischief is shattering the image of our nation and its people to the core. He has single-handedly pulled down the image of Bangladesh in Japan to such a low, that it would probably take another three decades for us to build it up again.

Many in Japan no longer believe what our official version says in its desperate attempt to portray the country as a moderate Islamic nation. Japanese remember vividly what has happened in Spain only a few months ago and they are concerned that a repetition of Madrid in Tokyo would have much more devastating impact. Hence, there is fear and suspicion surrounding anything resembling al Qaeda. Amid such a situation, Bangladeshis emerging as prime al Qaeda suspects also have shattered their trust for a country that many until recently considered as a harmless developing nation in need of economic assistance from Tokyo.