PM's statement on Aug 17

In the aftermath of the bombing, the PM cut her state visit to China short to rush back to Dhaka. It was anticipated that she would soon address an anxious nation to allay its fears, provide information to the public as to what evidence had been unearthed by investigators, and outline concrete proposals for how to combat the menace.

In the event, it was fully twenty-one days before the PM would speak publicly about the bomb blasts. Even more problematic than the long delay, however, was that when she did finally speak, the PM's statement was long on vague generalisations and short on facts as to how the investigation is progressing. Now that the PM has finally spoken out, we wish that she would have made the decision to take the nation into her confidence as to some of the facts of the case. To call the PM's statement a disappointment would be a great understatement.

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Essentially, we have learned nothing new. The government's response has been the same as it has been in the past. More or less total denial of the problem, unsupported and scarcely credible accusations and allegations, and dismissal of the idea that the government could be in any way responsible for the breakdown in security.

The PM's statement, that those who want to portray Bangladesh as a religiously extremist country and are envious of the economic progress that the country has made are behind the bombings, tells us nothing useful as to the investigation. The statement is nothing more than disappointing generalisation and vague innuendo. What we had been hoping for was concrete information as to who the culprits might be and what is being done to bring them to justice.

That said, it seems that the investigation is making some decent progress. Every day brings new revelations in the press as to bomb-making materials being uncovered and suspects arrested. It certainly seems as though the investigative authorities have made some important break-throughs. Unfortunately, none of this made it into the PM's speech. At a time like this, we would like to see the PM show us that she is on top of the situation and fully apprised of the on-going investigation. Her recent statement provided evidence of neither.