Holey Artisan Tragedy: Ensure speedy trial

It has been three years since the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery at Gulshan in Dhaka. As we remember the 22 good souls that were killed in that night, we once again realise that militancy and terrorism should be eliminated from the earth, once and for all. We all need to work together to make sure that no such incident takes place again.

Religious extremism was behind the brutal attack and that night, one of the darkest in our history, we found out that youths in Bangladesh have also been misled to walk on the wrong path. Although it is different than the other criminal offences, the criminals need to be tried at the soonest.

A total of 21 people had been charged in connection with the terror attack and a case is ongoing at a special tribunal. Five terrorists were killed that night, while 13 others died at different times. Eight people are in the jail now. Among 211 witnesses, the statements of 60 have been recorded so far. We hope that the statement of the other witnesses will be recorded soon and the criminals will be punished.

Besides continuing the trial, it is also important to keep vigilant about the terrorist organisations. It is already known that the local entities which have connection with the Islami State (IS) have lost their ground in key places like Syria. Many IS soldiers are now going back to their own countries, but keeping in touch with the rest of the team on the internet and planning to strike the earth again, may be at a different place.

IS leader Al-Baghdadi has urged his disciples to be reunited again, which does not bode well for countries like Bangladesh. Because rumours have it that IS has strong ties here. The attacks on Sri Lankan churches and hotels also indicate that IS is on the rise in South Asia. In the middle of June, many media have reported formation of IS’s local units in Pakistan and India.

The law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have assured us that the militant bodies here have been tamed and there are no imminent dangers. However, patrol police have been attacked on 29 April and 26 May in Dhaka and IS have claimed responsibility for both the incidents. The militant organisations might be operating here in stealth mode, and our able law enforcement agencies and the intelligentsia need to find out how dangerous they have become.

The Frankensteins the terrorist organisations make are threats to the society. We all need to unitedly work to make sure nobody gets radicalized by them to unleash cruelty on the earth. We want militancy be uprooted from this country.