People are helpless before police power, but terrorism is growing

THE questions have been raised in BBC Bengali radio programme yesterday about how effective is the government’s policy to fight terrorism. The question was asked why Home Ministry’s sanction would be necessary to try terrorists in speedy trial courts. Instead of fighting terrorism effectively the government has laid emphasis on close interaction of parents with teenage boys and girls in the family and ensure monitoring their movement for their orderly growth without being misled by wrong perceptions and radical ideologies. We must say the advice makes no sense at a time when the nation is facing the specter of rising militancy and more surprisingly our teenage boys from private universities live a life of frustration with no hope of honest future. Many being misdirected, they killed 32 people including 18 foreigners in an attack on a Gulshan Cafe last week followed by another attack at Sholakia Eidgah ground killing two more. It has brought Bangladesh on global spotlight but question arises whether the government is really serious to fight terrorism and eliminate it from the country. It has become a critical issue since the government is holding three high profile terrorist leaders in custody – two from 2010 and one from 2013 without putting them on trial. It contradicts the government claim of terrorists’ attempt to topple the government by use of terror when the government itself is protecting them in safe custody.Terrorists are persistently hitting sensitive targets killing foreigners, free thinker, bloggers and members of Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities in the recent past. The government is now under severe pressure to arrest the killers and prosecute them but it continues to blame BNP-Jamaat for having hands behind such attacks. This is how the government is trying to win global support and sympathy to fight terrorism. Particularly after the killing of Italian national Caeser Tavella and Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi Bangladesh became branded as terrorists infested country but news report said the government is rather protecting the leaders of the real killers in safe custody without arranging their prosecution. One of those terrorist Moulana Saidur Rahman is leader of Jamiatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB) arrested in May, 2010. The head of Hijbut-Tahrir, Jasimuddin Rahmani was arrested in April 2010 and the head of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) Mohiuddin Ahmed was arrested in August 2013. All three organizations are blamed for carrying out dreaded attacks and high profile target killings. But it appears that the court’s move to open trial of JMB leader has been halted twice as the Home Ministry did not clear the move. Permission for trial of Hijbut Tahrir leader Mohiuddin Ahmed has been denied three times and he is now on bail. We don’t know how many terrorists accused of target killings are in jail and if anyone was so far prosecuted. The government this week has asked all public and private organizations and individuals to undertake self-censorship and vigilance against militants. Schools, colleges and universities, mosques, and madrashas must ensure their own vigilance. The mystery remains over the fact that police power is increasing making the people helpless, yet terrorism is growing. Such a situation makes people powerless while police become all powerful. This is not the way to fight terrorism. But by playing politics with terrorism, Bangladesh can become another Syria.