Terror attacks across Bangladesh

. PHOTO: AFP

When will they unite on issues of common concern?

The whole nation has been dumbfounded as it witnessed the horrific sequel of bomb blasts that rocked Bangladesh on August 17. A huge number of bombs exploded in different places across the 63 districts. It was a horrific sight on the TV screen while they were broadcasting the news & highlighting the attacked places on the mapit appeared the whole map was perforated. It has exposed the vulnerability of the security system.

Now we can't but agree that there is indeed a strong presence of the religious extremists and that they are quite capable of creating dangerous threats to the sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Rafiqul Islam Rime Agrabad, Chittagong

Is Bangladesh on the brink of Talibanisation?

Despite Bangladesh's being pointed out by the international community as a breeding ground for Islamic terrorism ever since the coalition government came to power, the government has been in constant denial of any such linkages and have been found to have brushed aside such violence as nothing significant. The Economist in its 3rd edition of June 2005 ran a feature on Bangladesh titled "State of denial" in which worry has been expressed about the government's connivance with Islamic extremism.

Isn't it time the country swung into pre-emptive and preventive bouts of action to eliminate the menace?

Adnan Hossain On e-mail

Many times the government of Bangladesh has been warned of the gradual rise of extremism that is working as a camouflaged ideology of ultra-religiosity, but they have explained away the reality by terming the claim as baseless. But the irony of fate is that the threat has resulted in serial bomb explosions, making the people dumbfounded. No explanation can soothe away the tension and consternation the people of Bangladesh have been encased in ever since.

Extremism, fundamentalism, ultra-religiosity or bigotry, whatever word you choose to depict this barbarity, the cardinal fact is that this guild is against freedom of expression, democracy, free thought, women's empowerment and innovations. They still live by the Byzantine mentality and oppose what goes readily against modernity. They do not want to go through what Renaissance has taught us, but intend to confine people's creativity and intelligence through medieval treatment.

Sulav Chowdhury London

Following the killing of former finance minister in a grenade attack and their subsequent failure to identify the true source of the orchestrations, the credibility of the intelligence agencies as well as the leadership of the Bangladesh authorities have been under question. The government's reluctance to ban the terrorist groups under the guise of religious zealots makes one wonder whether Bangladesh takes these matters seriously.

My thoughts are with the victims of this unprecedented attack. The perpetrators should note that while they have taken advantage of the incompetence of the authorities, the overwhelming majority of the people of

Bangladesh will not tolerate their extremist ways. It is hard to believe that this elevated form of outburst complete with state of the art synchronised execution of the heinous bombings is congruent with the serenity of Bangladesh and its traditional peaceful and hardworking ways.

Simply put, I do not think this type of terrorism is home-grown. Our enemies have simply taken a first stab at showing us we are completely defenceless when it comes to domestic security.

Following my last visit to Bangladesh in May, I noticed a semblance of the much wanted peace brought about in the streets of Dhaka by the deployment of Rab to keep politically motivated criminal gangs under check. Begum Khaleda Zia needs to do much more and deal with this issue as a national leader. For one to be satisfied that this government means business, some heads have to roll right from the very top. It is inconceivable that in a country of 140 million people, the Prime Minister cannot find a single qualified individual who can put the intelligence and the internal security of the country back in order. There have been enough trial runs at the helm of the home ministry and successive incumbents have only proved their sickening inexperience, if not complete lack of understanding of what the job entails.

It is time to put a person of integrity and skill before incompetent lackeys.

As for the leader of the opposition, her misguided politicisation and more importantly her failure to recognise that the very fabric of the intelligence agencies of the country has collapsed only confirms that had she been at the helm when this incident occurred, she would not have done any better. Instead of childish outbursts, the country expects a person of Sheikh Hasina's political seniority to chalk out a detailed plan of action on how the opposition would have dealt with a dire situation such as this in the short term and in the long term. That way, the entire nation would gain and be resolute in their fight against this new brand of evil that threatens our future.

The bottom line is if Bangladesh is to be taken seriously as a safe place to live in, a safe place to invest one's money, a safe place to bring up children, all quarters need to work together instead of finger pointing at each other.

Shabbir A. Bashar San Francisco Bay Area, US

Sixty-three districts of Bangladesh were rocked with bombs within a span of thirty minutes. The attacks threw the country into a state of uncertainty over its security system. The government and the opposition have as usual started playing the blame game without giving well thought out comments and convincing facts. National security is a concern, which binds the countrymen together irrespective of caste, creed and religion. It does not discriminate AL or BNP. Rather, the blame game allows scope for the real perpetrators to continue their heinous activities with greater force.

Most probably, the message of religion is getting misinterpreted among some people. To expand an ideology, love and sympathy must play the pivotal role, not the muscle power or any other form of force. Bangladesh enjoys democracy in the midst of flaws and obstacles. What's the need to undo this system and introduce a new one, which most people don't desire? The Jamaatul Mujahadeen is said to have been claiming the responsibility of the blasts. Several leaflets also contain this message. But this cannot be taken as absolute proof. Maybe, some vested quarters took the opportunity to create unrest in the country in the name of religion or religious extremism. The matter has to be investigated thoroughly, before we can reach any conclusion.

Md. Masum Billah BRAC Head Office, Dhaka

A Canada based Islamic website published JMB's message to the Bangladesh government. This message stated that the Bangladesh government had already been warned twice and after this third warning JMB would take direct action against the government if it does not establish Islamic rule in the country. I presume that the recent bombings were the second warning from JMB. The website is full of news about Jehad and it is perceivable that this site published JMB news because of its stand.

The problem of the country is that two components of the ruling alliance are trying to prove that the bomb attacks were not the work of any Islamic organisation, rather the work of a neighbouring country. The neighbouring country, they claim, has created JMB to destabilise Bangladesh.

Well, bomb attack is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. There were bomb attacks during the AL rule. The ruling coalition and many people in Bangladesh believe that the AL has a soft attitude towards India and it preserves Indian interest in Bangladesh. Then was India responsible for the bomb attacks during the AL rule?

It seems to me that the two parties in the alliance are trying to create confusion and putting pressure on the government so that it cannot take action against the attackers. If the government bows down to such pressure, then the situation will worsen further. I am pretty sure that the BNP would not be benefited in the long run by politics of violence.

Wasim Haider Toronto, Canada