Dhaka terror attack: Bangladesh pays the price for its government's policy of appeasing Islamists
The government has failed to display any kind of intention or plan to
tackle such terrorist hate crimes.
Yesterday · 12:19 pm
Updated 2 hours ago
Ikhtisad Ahmed
At 8.45 pm on July 1, the last Friday before Eid ul Fitr, an Islamist
attack broke out in Gulshan, the diplomatic, expatriate and
upper-class heartland of Dhaka. It developed into a hostage situation,
with the assailants exchanging gunfire with the police. Two of the
first responders were fatally wounded, and many others injured and
hospitalised. Rumours abound on social media as shocked and distressed
citizens gave in to voyeurism, but ten hours into the attack, neither
the Bangladesh prime minister nor her ministers had addressed the
nation. Their deafening silence echoed the tepid response of the Awami
League government to rising terrorism.
As freethinkers continued to be slaughtered by Islamists, the
government line, made unequivocal with each repetition, blamed the
victims and appeased extremist ideology. A staunch refusal to
acknowledge the growth of fundamentalist violence, dismissing them as
isolated incidents when they occur, implies a desire to delude the
public rather than solve a very real problem. Emboldened, Islamists of
various stripes broadened their targets to foreigners, secular Muslims
and sexual and religious minorities. There has particularly been an
alarming rise in attacks on Hindus in rural areas, most recently
Shyamanondo Das, who was hacked to death with machetes early on Friday
in Jhenaidah District, adjacent to West Bengal.
The government has failed to display any kind of intention or plan to
tackle such terrorist hate crimes. This inability to ensure security,
the most basic responsibility of any government, has led to daily
migrations of the Hindu population to India. National and
international reporting has been skewed towards the urban killings.
This, coupled with the lack of concrete law enforcement steps, has
meant that an escalation in the capital was foreseeable.
When up to nine armed terrorists took over the Holey Artisan Bakery in
Gulshan with shouts of “Allahu Akbar”, their actions marked a major
turning point in the crisis in Bangladesh. The trajectory to date
suggests that, regrettably, it marks a turn for the worse. The attack
revealed how woefully unprepared the state is, a fact that is
unforgivable since there have been warnings aplenty as Islamist
violence has shown no signs of subsiding. Ansar-al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda
affiliate, and ISIS both claimed responsibility as the situation
developed, with the latter releasing several updates to support its
assertion. A US intelligence official told CNN that it was more likely
that AQIS – Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent – had conducted the
attack. The geographical proximity to Pakistan, where AQIS has its
roots, gives credence to this.
Off-hand dismissal
The Bangladesh government, however, has previously rejected such
claims, insisting that the butchering has been the work of home-grown
outfits. Nothing suggests that the alleged links to global terrorist
organisations have been scrutinised thoroughly before being
discredited, nor has the possibility that domestic operators are
aligning themselves with worldwide networks, either as a fear tactic
or to profess legitimacy, been discounted. In the case of the latter,
questions about whether the central command is local or foreign, i.e.
whether the local outfits are operating without oversight or not,
cannot be answered without a concerted effort to inspect the crimes.
Islam has been politicised by the Awami League’s opponents, the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, birthed
and nurtured Islamism, and directly and indirectly encouraged
extremism. But when the government blames them without investigating
the spate of attacks, it is refusing to address the issue. The
deep-seated animosity that defines the partisan politics of Bangladesh
prevents either side from rising above the blame game to offer
proactive and productive solutions. BNP-Jamaat have never accepted
responsibility for their misdeeds or distanced themselves from
Islamism, marrying themselves to it more firmly instead; nor has the
Awami League been held accountable for its ineptitude in arresting the
deterioration of law and order, especially in relation to
fundamentalist violence.
The attack itself raises several concerns. The restaurant in the
upscale neighbourhood near embassies and international clubs, is
frequented by foreigners. Located on a cul-de-sac, Holey is primed to
launch a war of attrition from. Any surveillance conducted when
settling on this target would have revealed that it could be closed
off by responders, leaving no way out for assailants. Should this
indicate a newfound inclination for suicide attacks amongst terrorists
who have, until now, escaped after blitz attacks on individuals, it
would signal a worrying development.
New modus operandi
The manner of the attack is a deviation from the modus operandi of the
heretofore targeted killings. Whether this is a permanent departure
remains to be seen, but the resolve of Islamists is not on the wane.
The scale implies they are more determined than ever. Guns replaced
knives, a hostage-rich location replaced targeted individuals, a
significant disciplined group replaced pairs or small clusters. The
finances and resources required for planning and carrying out such an
attack provide further causes for concern. If the government follows
its own precedent, then these concerns will not be quelled, and the
fears arising as a result of such a brazen attack will not be allayed.
Foreign friends extending a hand to the government need to be reminded
to do so to serve Bangladesh’s interests. The US opposed Bangladesh’s
independence and actively supported the undemocratic Pakistani
military regime’s oppression. Bangladeshi-American relations only
improved during successive military dictatorships in Bangladesh from
1977 to 1990. This period also saw the rehabilitation of Jamaat by the
then newly formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the removal of
secularism and introduction of religion in politics – a practice that
has flourished since. The West’s collusion with radical Islam is
largely omitted from the War on Terror discourse, thus overlooking the
West’s culpability in global Islamist terrorism. To similarly ignore
the history of Islamism in Bangladesh when discussing the current bane
is perilous.
The Awami League can no longer obfuscate, deny and deflect. It cannot
seek to derive political benefit by making concessions to
conservatives and fanatics. The terrorist threat is as grave as it has
ever been in Bangladesh, perhaps graver than ever. The government has
to acknowledge this and assume its responsibilities. There needs to be
a commitment to deal with Islamism, political Islam and Islamist
violence sincerely and effectively.
Ikhtisad Ahmed is a columnist for the Dhaka Tribune, and author of the
socio-political short story collection Yours, Etcetera. His Twitter
handle is @ikhtisad.
The government has failed to display any kind of intention or plan to
tackle such terrorist hate crimes.
Yesterday · 12:19 pm
Updated 2 hours ago
Ikhtisad Ahmed
At 8.45 pm on July 1, the last Friday before Eid ul Fitr, an Islamist
attack broke out in Gulshan, the diplomatic, expatriate and
upper-class heartland of Dhaka. It developed into a hostage situation,
with the assailants exchanging gunfire with the police. Two of the
first responders were fatally wounded, and many others injured and
hospitalised. Rumours abound on social media as shocked and distressed
citizens gave in to voyeurism, but ten hours into the attack, neither
the Bangladesh prime minister nor her ministers had addressed the
nation. Their deafening silence echoed the tepid response of the Awami
League government to rising terrorism.
As freethinkers continued to be slaughtered by Islamists, the
government line, made unequivocal with each repetition, blamed the
victims and appeased extremist ideology. A staunch refusal to
acknowledge the growth of fundamentalist violence, dismissing them as
isolated incidents when they occur, implies a desire to delude the
public rather than solve a very real problem. Emboldened, Islamists of
various stripes broadened their targets to foreigners, secular Muslims
and sexual and religious minorities. There has particularly been an
alarming rise in attacks on Hindus in rural areas, most recently
Shyamanondo Das, who was hacked to death with machetes early on Friday
in Jhenaidah District, adjacent to West Bengal.
The government has failed to display any kind of intention or plan to
tackle such terrorist hate crimes. This inability to ensure security,
the most basic responsibility of any government, has led to daily
migrations of the Hindu population to India. National and
international reporting has been skewed towards the urban killings.
This, coupled with the lack of concrete law enforcement steps, has
meant that an escalation in the capital was foreseeable.
When up to nine armed terrorists took over the Holey Artisan Bakery in
Gulshan with shouts of “Allahu Akbar”, their actions marked a major
turning point in the crisis in Bangladesh. The trajectory to date
suggests that, regrettably, it marks a turn for the worse. The attack
revealed how woefully unprepared the state is, a fact that is
unforgivable since there have been warnings aplenty as Islamist
violence has shown no signs of subsiding. Ansar-al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda
affiliate, and ISIS both claimed responsibility as the situation
developed, with the latter releasing several updates to support its
assertion. A US intelligence official told CNN that it was more likely
that AQIS – Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent – had conducted the
attack. The geographical proximity to Pakistan, where AQIS has its
roots, gives credence to this.
Off-hand dismissal
The Bangladesh government, however, has previously rejected such
claims, insisting that the butchering has been the work of home-grown
outfits. Nothing suggests that the alleged links to global terrorist
organisations have been scrutinised thoroughly before being
discredited, nor has the possibility that domestic operators are
aligning themselves with worldwide networks, either as a fear tactic
or to profess legitimacy, been discounted. In the case of the latter,
questions about whether the central command is local or foreign, i.e.
whether the local outfits are operating without oversight or not,
cannot be answered without a concerted effort to inspect the crimes.
Islam has been politicised by the Awami League’s opponents, the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, birthed
and nurtured Islamism, and directly and indirectly encouraged
extremism. But when the government blames them without investigating
the spate of attacks, it is refusing to address the issue. The
deep-seated animosity that defines the partisan politics of Bangladesh
prevents either side from rising above the blame game to offer
proactive and productive solutions. BNP-Jamaat have never accepted
responsibility for their misdeeds or distanced themselves from
Islamism, marrying themselves to it more firmly instead; nor has the
Awami League been held accountable for its ineptitude in arresting the
deterioration of law and order, especially in relation to
fundamentalist violence.
The attack itself raises several concerns. The restaurant in the
upscale neighbourhood near embassies and international clubs, is
frequented by foreigners. Located on a cul-de-sac, Holey is primed to
launch a war of attrition from. Any surveillance conducted when
settling on this target would have revealed that it could be closed
off by responders, leaving no way out for assailants. Should this
indicate a newfound inclination for suicide attacks amongst terrorists
who have, until now, escaped after blitz attacks on individuals, it
would signal a worrying development.
New modus operandi
The manner of the attack is a deviation from the modus operandi of the
heretofore targeted killings. Whether this is a permanent departure
remains to be seen, but the resolve of Islamists is not on the wane.
The scale implies they are more determined than ever. Guns replaced
knives, a hostage-rich location replaced targeted individuals, a
significant disciplined group replaced pairs or small clusters. The
finances and resources required for planning and carrying out such an
attack provide further causes for concern. If the government follows
its own precedent, then these concerns will not be quelled, and the
fears arising as a result of such a brazen attack will not be allayed.
Foreign friends extending a hand to the government need to be reminded
to do so to serve Bangladesh’s interests. The US opposed Bangladesh’s
independence and actively supported the undemocratic Pakistani
military regime’s oppression. Bangladeshi-American relations only
improved during successive military dictatorships in Bangladesh from
1977 to 1990. This period also saw the rehabilitation of Jamaat by the
then newly formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the removal of
secularism and introduction of religion in politics – a practice that
has flourished since. The West’s collusion with radical Islam is
largely omitted from the War on Terror discourse, thus overlooking the
West’s culpability in global Islamist terrorism. To similarly ignore
the history of Islamism in Bangladesh when discussing the current bane
is perilous.
The Awami League can no longer obfuscate, deny and deflect. It cannot
seek to derive political benefit by making concessions to
conservatives and fanatics. The terrorist threat is as grave as it has
ever been in Bangladesh, perhaps graver than ever. The government has
to acknowledge this and assume its responsibilities. There needs to be
a commitment to deal with Islamism, political Islam and Islamist
violence sincerely and effectively.
Ikhtisad Ahmed is a columnist for the Dhaka Tribune, and author of the
socio-political short story collection Yours, Etcetera. His Twitter
handle is @ikhtisad.
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