Everyone in the town, whether a law enforcer or a lawyer, a
judge or a government official, is in the grip of constant fear of fresh terror
attacks. People eye each other suspiciously, spy on every stranger, apprehending
a bomber striking again anytime, anywhere". So read the opening paragraph of a
front-page news report in the December 3 edition of The Daily Star, a
prominent English newspaper published from Bangladesh.
This might sound alarmist to outsiders unfamiliar with the
ominous development of events ever since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
assumed power in alliance with fundamentalist Islamic outfits like the
Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI, Bangladesh) and the Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) in 2001. But
for Bangladeshis this is the grim reality of their country that now seems to be
firmly in the grip of Islamic extremists and terrorists.
The most disturbing part of the sordid scenario is the
widespread consensus in Bangladesh that the BNP-led government of Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia is hostage to the JEI and the IOJ, both of which have been
patronising the extremists and providing them political shelter. And it is not
just opposition parties; the media and the intelligentsia have repeatedly
asserted that unless the BNP snaps its alliance with the JEI, the scourge of
terrorism cannot be fought.
In September this year Syed Najibul Basher Maizbhandari, the
international affairs secretary of the BNP, resigned from the party protesting
its "failure to act" against the JEI, which had direct links with terrorist
outfits (see CC, October 2005). On November 24 the BNP expelled
one of its MPs, Abu Hena, from the party for openly blaming a section of the
government and the party for patronising the militants. What’s more, he charged
that two ministers and the Jamaat’s man in the BNP Post and Telecommunications
Dept., Aminul Haque, "are doing everything for the militants". Despite Hena’s
expulsion, BNP’s standing committee member and former minister Oli Ahmed and BNP
whip Ashraf Hossain spoke out, directly implicating the Jamaat-e-Islami in the
rise of militancy in the country.
While several religious Muslim organisations have condemned the
acts of terrorism in unambiguous terms, police investigations have also exposed
the role of the Ahl-e-Hadith sect (which like the Jamaat-e-Islami projects a
benign image of itself in India) and several foreign-funded "Islamic NGOs" in
promoting extremism in Bangladesh.
The sheer audacity with which the extremists have operated in
Bangladesh in recent months, making the judiciary a special target in its
proclaimed drive to ensure that Bangladesh runs according to "the laws of
Allah", is truly terrifying. Fifteen people, including judges, lawyers and
policemen have been killed since banned Islamist militant outfit Jama’atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) intensified its terror attacks in August. On August
17, simultaneous serial blasts at 459 spots in 63 districts across the country
killed two people and injured many others – in the name of establishing Islamic
rule in the country. And the situation has rapidly deteriorated since then:
Ø October 3: Courtrooms in Chandpur, Laxmipur and
Chittagong districts are attacked, killing four people and injuring 38,
including a judge.
Ø October 18: Militants hurl a bomb at the vehicle of
Judge Biplop Goswami in Sylhet, leaving him injured.
Ø November 14: In an attack, JMB extremists kill two
senior assistant judges of Jhalakathi, Sohel Ahmed and Jagannath Pandey.
Ø November 29: Nine people, including two lawyers and a
police constable, are killed and 78 others injured in two suicide bomb attacks
on Chittagong and Gazipur court premises.
Ø November 30: In response to a writ petition, the Dhaka
High Court issues notice to the government asking why its continuous failure to
discharge constitutional obligations to hold impartial, adequate and effective
investigations into the bomb blasts on court premises since August 17 should not
be declared a failure in protecting fundamental rights. The division bench also
directs the government to submit progress reports to the high court every two
weeks on the investigations into the attacks on court premises.
Ø December 1: Yet another suicide bomb attack by the JMB
in Gazipur kills a government employee and injures 30 people. Those injured in
the reckless attack outside the high-security office of the deputy commissioner
include eight lawyers, three journalists and five policemen, sending shock waves
throughout the country.
Ø December 2: Police recover nine powerful bombs, five
from the premises of a government office in Khulna and four in Sirajganj. Each
of these bombs was capable of causing huge casualties and extensive damage to
property. Meanwhile, Sylhet city mayor Badruddin Ahmed Kamran narrowly escapes a
grenade while speaking at the opening ceremony of a sports tournament.
Ø December 3: Explosive experts defuse a three-kg time
bomb planted under a passenger bus at a bus terminal.
Ø