Dhaka – Bangladesh needs to have a national unity shunning the blame game to fight back and combat the menace, said a renowned global analyst.
“There should be a national unity to fight back. Blame game or political point scoring should be shunned,” Prof Ali Riaz, Chair of the Department of Politics and Government at the Illinois State University has said.Asked how Bangladesh could overcome the situation, the expert on South Asian politics said all political forces and civil society need to join together.
“Bangladesh society has always rejected violent extremism. It’s time to create an environment where the strength of civil society and of common citizens can be harnessed to combat the menace,” said Prof Riaz.
Responding to another question, he said the Gulshan attack is testimony to the fact the current counterterrorism strategy is faltering. “There was significant successes between 2006 and 2012. What changed since then is a question we must ask,” he said.
Mentioning that counterterrorism usually have two elements — security and political, Prof Riaz said violent extremism cannot be defeated by security operation alone while dismantling the network is an important aspect.
“There’re legal and judicial aspects, too. The enabling environment which allows militancy to fester must be addressed in earnest. Having said this, we must acknowledge there’s no full-proof strategy,” he added.
The analyst said it is an unprecedented situation and this is undoubtedly the biggest terrorist attacks the country had ever faced.
“I wouldn’t call a single event as ‘crisis’ but overall the growing strengths of militant groups is worrying and points to an unfolding crisis,” he said.
There is no single cause but both global and domestic factors are contributing to this kind of situation, Prof Riaz added.
Nine Italian citizens, seven Japanese nationals, an Indian national and three Bangladesh nationals were killed inside a Spanish restaurant in Dhaka on Friday night. Two senior police officials were also killed. – UNB
