In spite of government efforts terrorism continues to pose a threat to Bangladesh. Just recently in a anti-terror operation at Mirpur, law enforcers recovered several incinerated bodies, presumably of militants who apparently had killed themselves by conducting a series of explosions. The country has witnessed several major terror incidents involving large-scale operations and casualties. The latest incident shows the extent to which the militants are willing to go to keep their agenda afloat. If they had been captured alive, the law enforcement agencies could have extracted valuable information by interrogating them. But those militants were ready to kill themselves rather than be caught alive. The terrorists have, time and again have exposed themselves as brutal, inhuman, and unfeeling. They have laid bare the hollowness of their souls and of their claims to act in the name of a superior being.

In the last couple of decades terrorism in Bangladesh has been on the rise. The occurrence of terrorist incidences in the county has been quite frequent until the last one year or so. But the fact remains that it has been there and the threat still persists despite a zero tolerance policy of the government. Rather, it is perceived that it is on the rise. In the most recent report published by the Institute of Economics and Peace it has been mentioned that Bangladesh has risen three points in the Global Terrorism Index, meaning the situation has deteriorated. The wave of terrorist activities and religious extremism is taking a heavy toll on the country’s economy, its politics and the people’s cultural life. In this vulnerable situation, government has to ensure its citizens’ right of personal life and liberty and security of life.  

There has been an obvious growing trend of radicalisation in Bangladesh. Terrorist outfits like JMB, HuJI-B and a few others exist in Bangladesh, but there's also a nexus between national and international groups. In the past, we arrested members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT and ISIS sympathisers.

It needs to be reemphasized that terrorism is a global concern. Countries need to be as creative and agile in their response, working better together to control their borders, share intelligence and improve the capabilities of their security services.There has to be an emphasis on intelligence collection, analysis and coordination. We still do not have a specified lead counter-terrorism agency in Bangladesh. We need to strengthen the capability of our law enforcers and depoliticise the intelligence so that they can be objective in investigating threats.