Round The World
New Delhi, 13 July 2016
Dhaka’s Terror Attacks
BANGLADESH ON THE BRINK
By Amrita Banerjee
Research Scholar, JNU
It’s been a bloody month. First, Bangladesh endured its own Mumbai-like suicide
attack when heavily armed terrorists targeted a bakery frequented by foreigners
in Dhaka’s plush diplomatic quarter last
fortnight. They held them hostage and later savagely tortured and butchered 20
people, including a young Indian woman, sparing only those who could recite Quran
verses.
Second, terrorists wounding and killing
hundreds in US’s Orlando, third Istanbul and recently in Baghdad where a bomb
killed over 200 people in a shopping area buzzing with families who had just
broken their Ramzan fasts. The
Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for many and is prime suspect in
others.
Undoubtedly, for a majority of Muslims
worldwide, violence is completely dissonant with the holy month, which entails
fasting, spiritual renewal and prayer with family and friends. But unfortunately
the IS follows a perverted ideology as they believe Ramzan is in fact the opportune time to kill infidels.
Indeed, such terrorists killing
innocents in the name of religion, that too during the Ramzan month are nothing but brute savages who do not understand
any religion whatsoever.
Notably, one reason for the IS
attacks in faraway locations is because it is facing military setbacks in and
around the so-called ‘caliphate’, the
seat of its influence. Thus, it wants to export terrorism to other countries so
as to stay ‘relevant’ and find more recruits.
Also, it aims to fight against the
civilisational values of the modern world. By attacking innocents, unarmed
public especially foreigners it wants to create panic in free and open
societies, break their social cohesion and then reap dividends.
Though Dhaka
insisted the café massacre was instigated by local Islamist fundamentalists,
Indian and western intelligence agencies confirmed that the attack was mounted
by the Bangladeshi module of IS led by Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif with foreigners as
the main target.
However, Dhaka denied IS on its soil
instead insisted that the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) was responsible. In fact, Bangladesh Home Minister
Asaduzzaman Khan even went to the extent of saying that the terrorists were
well educated Bangladeshis belonging to affluent families exploring the
possibility of ‘an international link’. Adding Pakistan’s
ISI, not IS was behind Dhaka’s attack.
Whether or not the IS was involved
in the attack will be established soon but this conscious targeting of
foreigners appears geared to exacerbate the conflict between the State Establishment
and extremist forces which have waged a bitter and bloody battle.
Undeniably, the Sheikh Hasina Government’s
counter-terrorism policies will be under international pressure now. This sort
of scrutiny does occasionally help as with the Lashkar-e-Toiba after the Mumbai attacks, when the Pakistani Establishment
was forced to rein in the violence if not the group’s infrastructure.
Alas Hasina’s Government has nowhere
that kind of leverage as many Islamist groups are relentlessly challenging her
Administration’s authority. Wherein, terrorists have launched several brutal
and violent attacks on bloggers, atheist activists, publishers, Hindus, Shias
and foreigners. The mushrooming of radical Islamists has added to the terrorist
activity over the last year.
More perplexing, is that terrorists
unlike their earlier impoverished and rural origin now come from well educated
and affluent backgrounds. Also, they
have changed their modus operandi over time which can be easily understood vis-à-vis the place and targets they
choose to attack.
Remember, the Holey Artisan Bakery
was a popular hangout for expatriates and rich locals because of its good food
and leafy garden in Dhaka’s toniest neighbourhood which boasted of being the
only artisan bakery ‘between Mumbai and Singapore’.
Besides, the misuse of the internet
by terror groups is yet another dismal reality about globalization. There have
been a series of Indian intelligence inputs that a large number of Bangladeshis
have been radicalized and indoctrinated by the IS over the internet.
Clearly, terrorism is the new
menacing reality of the 21st Century globalised world which knows no
borders and aims at people regardless of the country, age, gender, religion and
beliefs. Worse, the IS threat today lurks at India’s doors wherein Indian
intelligence experts predict that it’s possible that some extremists might flee
Bangladesh to escape the crackdown as India shares a porous border with it.
Another possibility is that the
suave, educated and sophisticated terrorists who are part of Dhaka’s attack might
use the air, rail or road route along-with fake passports to enter West Bengal
from Bangladesh.
The Indian security forces led by the BSF are on high alert to cope with a
crackdown on militants.
The Sheikh Hasina Government needs
to wake up because Bangladesh
is one country where both the IS and al
Qaeda seem to be competing. Whereby, extremism and terrorism are almost
impossible to tackle in Bangladesh
as they themselves are a product of the deep dysfunction in the country’s
politics and State institutions.
Created by a bloody civil war in
1971, Bangladesh
has a violent political culture and gridlocked politics dominated by two
warring Parties according to the International Crisis Group. Further, it has
extremely partisan State structures whereby institutions like civil servants,
police and judiciary are manned or manipulated by Party faithfuls.
Hasina’s Government is opposed to
violent Islamists but it has also presided over widespread repression of Opposition
Parties like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. This alongside
the partisan nature of the criminal justice system has bred alienation and
enhanced the appeal of extremist organizations and terror groups.
Furthermore, as a politically
freighted bureaucracy is too invested in the continuation of a regime and prone
to overreach, Hasina’s Administration has cracked down on the media and
sections of civil society thereby further undermining its legitimacy.
In sum, Bangladesh is experiencing a crisis
of public institutions of which terrorism is one manifestation. The focus now
will be on finding the conspirators but the country desperately needs a new
form of politics and a sequence of steps that will manage social tensions.
Presently, this sounds like wishful
thinking but the truth is that the Hasina Government cannot counter extremism
unless it fixes State institutions. The
need of the hour is to raise security operations to a higher standard and
strengthen cooperation among other countries in fighting terrorist groups,
provide harsher punishment by courts and establish a strict and broader security
system in public places.
It’s high time that the 57 Muslim
countries globally and different Islamic organizations come forward to act
against these heinous crimes. All countries should snap their sympathetic ties
with these brutal terror groups. As the recurrent terrorist attacks underscores
the need to counter terror unitedly. Terrorism is a global concern and so the
response has to be collective too! ----- INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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