Despicable act

Bangladesh�s secular and pluralist culture is under serious threat

The stabbing to death of a Hindu priest at a temple in Debiganj Upazila of  Panchagarh district last Sunday, has rung a warning alarm of increasing extremism and intolerance besides the alleged spectre of the evil existence of the Islamic State (IS) group  in Bangladesh.
According to police sources, the incident occurred while the priest was preparing for morning prayers. The miscreants attacked the temple first and then killed the priest. Apart from the priest, another devotee suffered injuries as he approached to save the priest.
In particular, two key characteristics regarding the killing have alarmed us.  The audacious and horrific manner the murder was carried out and the reported claim of IS that they were responsible for this despicable act. The assault is reportedly third in the list of attacking non-Muslim religious leaders in a relatively short time span of five months. The government must thoroughly investigate and systematically eliminate the suspected presence of extremist outfits in Bangladesh.
We strongly condemn such heinous attacks targeting different non-Muslim religious communities. The killing of the Hindu priest was evidently designed and executed to harm religious harmony and co-existence and also to brand Bangladesh as an intolerant and extremist nation. The international media has become abuzz with the latest occurrence. Their response has been sharply negative.   
If precautions were taken to protect the minority groups, and had sincere efforts been made to ensure their safety after the first two attacks – the third and latest assault may have been prevented. Moreover, the priest’s death clearly shows that the government’s law enforcement agencies and their intelligence networks have repeatedly failed to hunt down the perpetrators.  
Our government and lawmakers should quickly grasp the fact that Bangladesh’s secular and pluralist culture is under serious threat. Mere condemnation is not enough. It needs to quickly halt the recurrence of such atrocious assaults while ensuring safety of our minority groups. Hunt down the perpetrators and masterminds of such crimes. If necessary, extra security measures should be provided to safeguard the people under threat.
Lastly, we expect progress to be made on previous investigations too, so to ensure justice to the victims. Any delay regarding the move to tackle extremism will only breed danger in the coming days.

Despicable act

Bangladesh�s secular and pluralist culture is under serious threat

The stabbing to death of a Hindu priest at a temple in Debiganj Upazila of Panchagarh district last Sunday, has rung a warning alarm of increasing extremism and intolerance besides the alleged spectre of the evil existence of the Islamic State (IS) group in Bangladesh. According to police sources, the incident occurred while the priest was preparing for morning prayers. The miscreants attacked the temple first and then killed the priest. Apart from the priest, another devotee suffered injuries as he approached to save the priest. In particular, two key characteristics regarding the killing have alarmed us. The audacious and horrific manner the murder was carried out and the reported claim of IS that they were responsible for this despicable act. The assault is reportedly third in the list of attacking non-Muslim religious leaders in a relatively short time span of five months. The government must thoroughly investigate and systematically eliminate the suspected presence of extremist outfits in Bangladesh. We strongly condemn such heinous attacks targeting different non-Muslim religious communities. The killing of the Hindu priest was evidently designed and executed to harm religious harmony and co-existence and also to brand Bangladesh as an intolerant and extremist nation. The international media has become abuzz with the latest occurrence. Their response has been sharply negative. If precautions were taken to protect the minority groups, and had sincere efforts been made to ensure their safety after the first two attacks the third and latest assault may have been prevented. Moreover, the priests death clearly shows that the governments law enforcement agencies and their intelligence networks have repeatedly failed to hunt down the perpetrators. Our government and lawmakers should quickly grasp the fact that Bangladeshs secular and pluralist culture is under serious threat. Mere condemnation is not enough. It needs to quickly halt the recurrence of such atrocious assaults while ensuring safety of our minority groups. Hunt down the perpetrators and masterminds of such crimes. If necessary, extra security measures should be provided to safeguard the people under threat. Lastly, we expect progress to be made on previous investigations too, so to ensure justice to the victims. Any delay regarding the move to tackle extremism will only breed danger in the coming days.