Another terrifying arson attack

Just when we had started to feel a sense of relief, that the horrific incidents of arson attacks during the BNP led opposition hartal-blockade were over, it has struck again. Eight people have been burnt by arsonists who hurled petrol bombs on a running bus. It happened on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, near Comilla, at midnight when many people were offering Shab-e-Barat prayers. The attack is a chilling reminder that we are still vulnerable to these deadly attacks which killed at least 95 people and wounded more than a thousand during the first three frightful months of this year.

It is a wakeup call that reminds us that all those men, women and children who were killed or disfigured for life in those three months, have yet to receive justice. Apart from the various cases against leaders of the opposition we have not seen arrests and trials of those individuals who actually carried out these gruesome attacks. Without a single culprit of those crimes being brought to book, it is not surprising that arsonists feel confident enough to go on another spree of killing and maiming. It must be stopped right now – not with wholesale arrests of political opponents but through proper investigation and by following due process that will ensure the severest punishment for these killers.