Editorial
Regrouping of terrorists
Gear up counter-terrorism activity
THE news of religious extremists regrouping themselves has been hogging the media headlines of late. The month of August is a distressing reminder of what the religious extremists are capable of. Both the events of 21 August 2004 and 17 August 2005 testify to their canny operational efficiency as well as their organizational effectiveness.
A worrisome aspect is the fact that very recently several Indians have been arrested in Bangladesh were alleged to have links with some well-known terrorist groups in India and Pakistan. And these people have been living in Bangladesh for decades. It is disconcerting too that recently there have been threats of militant attacks on public places or important establishments.
Although some of the JMB members were apprehended, and subsequently tried and hanged in 2007, it has been our stated position that we can't afford to bask in the glory, given the fact that these elements are very flexible and it was a matter of time before they would be up and about, going about their destructive and harmful ways.
It is to the credit of the law enforcing agencies that over last few years they have been able to preempt the terrorists before they could carry out their destructive acts. Several hundred extremist cadres have been arrested, along with large quantities of raw materials for making bombs since 2007, but that is not quite enough.
For one thing, we have not been able to put our fingers on the sponsors and godfathers. And it is more likely than not that their source of funding have not been identified by the security agencies either. We feel that this is an important aspect that the law enforcing agencies must focus on. We must also find out the organic link between the religious terrorists in Bangladesh and other international terrorist organisations, in the region and beyond.
We cannot but also express our dismay at the torpid state one finds the special committee on counterterrorism in. It was set up under the state minister for home in April this year but has done precious little so far. It had rightly felt the need to involve the people in addressing the matter but not enough have been done in respect of public awareness which is a prerequisite for effective participation of the people.
While there is constant terrorist threat it should not be overplayed since that may unnecessarily cause panic. But it is an issue that one cannot afford to soft-pedal on either. We believe that people in responsible positions of the government should get down to formulating appropriate strategy, if not done already, and implement those to tackle the phenomenon instead of only making public pronouncements regarding the gravity of the threat that we are facing.
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