Major General (Rtd) Abdur Rashid
The judgment of the Holey Artisan attack case is a major milestone in Bangladesh's zero-tolerance policy against militancy and extremism. Here, we see that Bangladesh has hammered in another nail in the coffin of extremists through the legal system. At various times in our country terrorism has been used for internal political use. As we have seen, many countries have categorized militancy in different ways. They have identified one party as good militants who protect the interests of the state party. They rise with the patronage of militants. In this case, I have rarely seen the trial of those involved in such terrorist attacks.
Those who conducted terrorist attacks in India hailing from Pakistan, the Pakistani government has not conducted any trial of these terrorist rather it has provided shelter for them. But Bangladesh's militant outfits have no such categorization, being militants mean they are extremists and murderers of innocent people.
Those who have been arrested by law enforcement agencies in the country have been brought under the law. The verdict against those who were involved in the brutal attack on Holey Artisan is a testament to that philosophy. All the terrorist attacks and the murder of innocent people in the country have brought to justice by law. This is a great example of controlling militancy through state law. Five militants were killed on the spot during the attack on Holey Artisan. Eight more of them were killed in police operations. The remaining eight of the 20 involved were brought to trial.
In a nutshell, the anti-terrorist operation in Bangladesh has added a new dimension after the terrorist attacks on Holey Artisan. As a result, the law enforcers and the intelligence agencies have greatly increased their capacity. The security concerns that had arisen in the country after the attack, have easily brought the country back to a place of trust.
In future, militant patrons will be wary in the coming days as the trial of the militants in the Holly Artisan attack has been completed. At the same time, if we can keep the politics of religion away from militants, then militancy will surely be overcome. This verdict will make Bangladesh safer.
