Following the incumbent government’s zero tolerance policy against terrorism and drugs, over the last few years, law enforcing agencies have been trying to destroy militancy with an iron-hand by conducting countrywide anti-militant drives and so far their efforts deserve plaudits. Since the Holey Artisan attack, we have seen some strong anti-militancy campaign around the country to curb the growing risks of militant attacks. As reported by this daily on Saturday, law enforcement agencies have since then conducted more than one thousand anti-militant operations. They also arrested 2,410 militants and recovered huge amounts of arms and ammunition. And thus Bangladesh has become a glaring instance to the rest of the world in eradicating militancy and terrorism. The oldest militant outfit in the country, Harkatul Jihad (Hu-Ji), is almost dead. The Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (the old JMB) may have some support groups in North Bengal but they are not perceived as a threat at the moment.
We all need to be vocal against terrorism
and militancy to make the pertaining
development sphere sustainable
Law enforcers now claim that militant groups have mostly been demolished, but fear of terror attacks continues to grow as terrorists are now being recruited through internet. According to an analysis by an agency of the law enforcement dealing with the prevention and monitoring of militancy, the pro-Islamic State (IS) groups from 2018 have created various ‘virtual cells’ or ‘modules’. It is worth mentioning that such cells and small organised groups were involved in the sporadic attacks against the police in various locations in 2019.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s zero tolerance policy against terrorism has been hailed by the governments, intelligence agencies and media all over the world. Bangladesh has done a lot to counter extremists’ ideology in the physical space and now the country needs to counter that in virtual space too. Killing in the name of Islam is an age-old phenomenon although Islam never supports terrorism and militancy. It is clear that as long as militancy is an ideological paradox and there are anti liberation forces, it would be a challenge to wipe out militancy from this soil.
We must work to free our society from the grip of drugs, terrorism and militancy. Cross-sections of people including professional leaders and religious personalities should forge social resistance against terrorism and militancy. We all need to be vocal against terrorism and militancy to make the pertaining development sphere sustainable.