Editorial
Why bomb blasts remain a mystery for so long?
Ensure exemplary punishment of those responsible for explosions
THREE years ago, on August 17 2005, extremist elements belonging to now banned Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) had exploded bombs in 63 districts. It was a dark day in our history when, through the brazen act, the obscurantists imparted the message that they had no allegiance to the laws of the land. They openly announced that they did not give any credence to the country's constitution. It remains a mystery as to how, with so many members of the intelligence and law enforcing agencies active in the field, so many people could carry bomb making materials to 63 destinations and detonate them without a single one getting caught.
The dangerously armed and motivated militants subsequently carried out further bomb attacks, this time with the intent to kill. Law enforcers once again failed to apprehend them until it was too late. It was only after the mayhem that took the lives of judges in a courthouse including many innocent people that some arrests were made. However, at one point of time, some of the top leaders were put on trial and later the caretaker government carried out the court execution order. It was expected that the backbone of the fundamentalist outfit was crushed forever but soon our notion was proved wrong. We noted with considerable alarm that remnants of the party began to regroup in a clandestine way in some remote parts of the country. Though the law enforcing agencies continued to pick up these elements at regular intervals, the outfit remains far from giving up on their mission. They remain as convinced and focused today as they were before and this fact is reflected in the media reports that say members have recently met a number of times to form new committees (Sura) at the district and local levels. They are known to be more busy now recruiting young people to reinforce their organisation.
We believe there is much to be troubled by the fact that because of the existing legal system it has not been possible to end the trial of all the cases and convict the perpetrators. One report says that out of the 169 cases, trial of only 37 cases has been completed in the last three years; investigation of 34 cases has not been completed yet; trial is continuing in 98 cases and all five accused in one case have been given release order by the court.
Clearly, there needs to be a two-pronged strategy now: first, the snail's pace at which investigation, trial and conviction is taking place will have to be radically speeded up. Secondly, to ensure peace and stability in the country, the intelligence and law enforcing agencies will have to identify their mentors and sources of funding and destroy their network. Notably, we have graduated from the denial mode to a hands-on approach in dealing with extremism. This is the right time to move forward.
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