Coping with persisting terror activities

People all over Bangladesh breathed a collective sigh of relief as news came in about the successful operation of the law enforcers which busted the den of a terrorist outfit in the capital. In the eight hour long raid on Thursday, law enforcers arrested seven members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), a notorious organisation responsible for a  series of terror attacks in the country, and seized a huge cache of explosives. JMB allegedly planned to carry out attacks on the Christmas day. Some Christian clergymen were threatened over phone as well. Thankfully because of the vigilance of the authorities the Bengali Christian community could celebrate their biggest religious festival without serious incidents. However right on the Christmas Day a vicious bomb attack on an Ahmadia mosque showed once again that there is simply no room for complacency in the fight against extremism. In what appeared to be a suicide attack one person was killed and several injured in the bomb attack at a village in Rajshahi.     
 Religious fanatics are the new fascists. They believe in the physical elimination of their political opponents. They are an extreme right-wing force that wants to turn back the clock of  history. Most of Bangladesh’s religious parties remain at the political margins, usually sharing between them much less than 10 per cent of the vote. It's the secular forces–whether political parties or even the military– that have always been in power.
However there have a tendency shown by the major parties to appease the obscurantist forces to almost absurd lengths. Successive governments have attempted for narrow political ends to placate the religious right with concessions. One of the most important ways to fight Islamist extremism is to demonstrate the importance of respect for other religious traditions and the benefits to society of developing a culture of religious freedom and pluralism.
On the other hand the various law enforcement agencies must further intensify their efforts to root out fundamentalist force of any bent. Things had actually improved a good degree as the fundamentalist forces were believed to be on the retreat after the Hefazat showdown in Motijheel in 2013. The government sent a strong message that they would not tolerate any force that stands against the founding principles of this republic.
Unfortunately though, in the second half of this year the extremists have been trying to organise themselves and have carried out several attacks on people who do not subscribe to their narrow and bigoted interpretation of Islam. Some foreigners have also been attacked. While these attacks have not resulted in a large number of casualties, there are signs that these organisations are steadily gaining strength. So these people must be fought in all fronts and must be kept on the run.

Coping with persisting terror activities

People all over Bangladesh breathed a collective sigh of relief as news came in about the successful operation of the law enforcers which busted the den of a terrorist outfit in the capital. In the eight hour long raid on Thursday, law enforcers arrested seven members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), a notorious organisation responsible for a series of terror attacks in the country, and seized a huge cache of explosives. JMB allegedly planned to carry out attacks on the Christmas day. Some Christian clergymen were threatened over phone as well. Thankfully because of the vigilance of the authorities the Bengali Christian community could celebrate their biggest religious festival without serious incidents. However right on the Christmas Day a vicious bomb attack on an Ahmadia mosque showed once again that there is simply no room for complacency in the fight against extremism. In what appeared to be a suicide attack one person was killed and several injured in the bomb attack at a village in Rajshahi. Religious fanatics are the new fascists. They believe in the physical elimination of their political opponents. They are an extreme right-wing force that wants to turn back the clock of history. Most of Bangladeshs religious parties remain at the political margins, usually sharing between them much less than 10 per cent of the vote. Its the secular forceswhether political parties or even the military that have always been in power. However there have a tendency shown by the major parties to appease the obscurantist forces to almost absurd lengths. Successive governments have attempted for narrow political ends to placate the religious right with concessions. One of the most important ways to fight Islamist extremism is to demonstrate the importance of respect for other religious traditions and the benefits to society of developing a culture of religious freedom and pluralism. On the other hand the various law enforcement agencies must further intensify their efforts to root out fundamentalist force of any bent. Things had actually improved a good degree as the fundamentalist forces were believed to be on the retreat after the Hefazat showdown in Motijheel in 2013. The government sent a strong message that they would not tolerate any force that stands against the founding principles of this republic. Unfortunately though, in the second half of this year the extremists have been trying to organise themselves and have carried out several attacks on people who do not subscribe to their narrow and bigoted interpretation of Islam. Some foreigners have also been attacked. While these attacks have not resulted in a large number of casualties, there are signs that these organisations are steadily gaining strength. So these people must be fought in all fronts and must be kept on the run.