Again there was a bombing in a Shah Jalal Sufi Shrine in Sylhet on May 21 2004, which injured the British High Commissioner amongst others and no one was brought to justice. And there was the huge arms and ammunitions haul in Chittagong on April 2, 2004 which included 2,000 automatic and semi-automatic weapons namely Kalashnikov-type assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers..., writes Alamgir Hussain

When a bomb exploded at a cultural program of Udichi in Jessore on March 6, 1999 and killed 10 and injured about 100, that was the first awakening. Nobody bothered; no one was caught and punished. Then there was the second awakening several months later when a bomb blast in a communist party rally killed 7 leftist leaders in Kushtia. We did not pay heed. There was a 'Laden Bahini Dance Party', wrote a local English daily, which was apparently a fun and frolic party which featured a few female dancers too in a jungle in Cox's Bazar area. When police raided the party, a fierce gun battle ensued that resulted in 30 injuries including 5 policemen. This was probably the third awakening but we did not pay attention - the episode died off.

Then came the big awakening on Pahela Baishakh celebration on April 14, 2001 at Ramna Batomul which was marred by a huge bomb blast that killed 10 people. No body bothered, no one was apprehended and justice was not handed. Then there was an awakening when secularist Poet Shamsur Rahman was attacked at his residence by alleged cadres of underground terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad but no body was caught and brought to justice.

Then came the awakening of international flavour on September 11, 2001 when 19 Islamic terrorists rammed airplanes into the World Trade Centre in New York and Pentagon Headquarters in Washington. We should have paid attention to our backyard but we did not bother. We thought our home was clean and we went to sleep. Thus, awakenings one after another failed to catch our imagination - then foreigners came to awaken us, first on April 4, 2002, when Bertil Linter published his highly-debated article titled 'BANGLADESH: A Cocoon of Terror' in the prestigious Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) journal. The author suggested that 'Rising fundamentalism and religious intolerance were threatening secularism and moderate Islam. The implications for the region and beyond are grave, but it's not too late for a counter-revolution.' Instead of being alerted, the whole nation, from government to intellectuals to man on the street, went mad after Bertil Linter. Instead of being awakened we took Bertil Linter and FEER to court for his vile attempt to malign the image of our clean nation. Then came another foreigner in Alex Perry whose article in New York Times (NYT) titled 'Deadly Cargo' (October 21, 2002) described purportedly al-Qaeda and Taliban Jihadists armed with AK-47 weapon caches entering Southern Bangladesh through Burma. The story also cited al-Qaeda's number two lieutenant Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri's visiting Dhaka briefly. We did not get alerted, we did not investigate but instead we denied as usual and we condemned it as an attempt to malign the good name of Bangladesh by NYT. Then came another foreigner Eliza Griswold early this year who published her story titled 'The Next Islamist Revolution?' (NYT, January 27 2005) which painted a grim picture of Islamic extremist activity in Bangladesh, especially by the group of Bangla Bhai, whose Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) had launched a campaign of terror to Islamise the Northern Bangladesh. We did not get awakened but instead we again condemned Eliza Griswold and NYT for trying to spoil the image of our good nation. The terror of Bangla Bhai and his JMJB thugs were so widespread and well reported in the national media that included barbaric murder of 35 people in Northern Bangladesh and yet, our judicious government, instead of investigating the matter became so furious that it started looking for the informers in an attempt to punish them. In between and subsequently, there have been so many incidences of awakening, including uncovering many terror-training camps in jungles run by militant Islamist groups, many of which followed gunfight with the police. Yet, we did not get alerted. We continued to deny the presence of any Islamic terrorist groups - definitely shamelessly.

One of the biggest home-grown awakenings came on August 21 2004, when grenades were thrown into the rally of opposition leader and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, which killed 18 people including a senior female leader, wife of former minister Zillur Rahman. The government put the blame on the opposition party itself terming it latter's effort to destabilise the country. We did not bother - no one was caught and punished. This followed by another similar awakening this year on January 26 in Habiganj when grenade-throwing again on an opposition party rally killed the former finance minister and a seating MP, SAMS Kibria. The government tried to put the blame on the opposition party again but this time pressure from the western nations including the EU and the United States led to some botched investigation, which could not catch any of the real masterminds.

Again there was a bombing in a Shah Jalal Sufi Shrine in Sylhet on May 21 2004, which injured the British High Commissioner amongst others and no one was brought to justice. And there was the huge arms and ammunitions haul in Chittagong on April 2, 2004 which included 2,000 automatic and semi-automatic weapons namely Kalashnikov-type assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers; quantities of 40mm RPG ammunition; 25,000 hand grenades and 1.8m rounds of small-arms ammunition. There was no credible investigation and no real culprit but a few dock-workers were charged. There have been bombings in movie theatres, considered sinful in true Islam, killing a number of people. And there was fatal attack on the secularist writer, Dr Humayun Azad. No one was brought to justice. Then there have been hundreds of threats to secular and minority religious persons and traditional cultural and entertainment activities and programs over the years. All these terror attacks and threats, targeting secular writers, politicians and supposedly un-Islamic cultural and entertainment activities, bore the clear hallmarks of significant Islamist terrorist activities across Bangladesh over these years.

However, the greatest awakening came on August 17, 2005 when a series of about 500 bombs were set off all across the country within one hour in an amazingly coordinated manner. Execution of such massive bombing has been unprecedented in the modern history of terrorist activities of any kind anywhere. The government once again tried to deflect the responsibility on the opposition party and neighbouring India to destabilise the country. As pressure mounted especially from overseas, the government had to go back to do some homework and until now 260 people have been arrested all of whom are connected to Islamist organisations, including JMJB and Harkat-ul-Jihad. Surprisingly, none of the arrestees are members of government's pet scapegoats, namely RAW (India), MOSAD (Israel), CIA (USA) and the opposition party.

Yet, the latest awakening came from an individual from the home front, unlike Bertil Linter et al., ruling BNP's Tareque Rahman. He confessed to the existence of the activity of international terrorist organisations in the country in a BBC Bangla program by saying, "It is my personal opinion that the same things happened in the US and Britain a few days ago. People there have been the victims of international terrorism and what's happened here is continuation of those acts of terror." This is the first time someone in the ruling alliance has admitted to the presence of international terrorist elements in Bangladesh. This must have shocked the nation and the international community alike, since the government has persistently taken the stand of adamant denial about the presence of any terrorist organisations in Bangladeshi soil. Is this a real awakening or another attempt by Tareque Rahman to malign the good name of our good nation? Or is it an honest admission on behalf of the government which it has shamelessly denied for so long against the presence of glaring hallmarks of significant Islamic terrorist activities in the country. Now the government has announced bounty for the head of the so-called Bangla Bhai, whom the government termed a figment of imagination of the media and opposition party just the other day. Not only that, they now even have a picture of a nonexistent Bangla Bhai and published it in all the major newspapers while announcing the bounty for his head. It appears that the menace of Islamic extremism has gotten to the point of strangulating the government and it has no other choice but to act - for domestic as well as international pressure.

Does not it prove that Bertil Linter, Alex Perry and Eliza Griswold were all correct in painting the picture of Bangladesh to become the frontier for the next Islamic revolution unless actions were taken? Does not it prove that those very few home grown secularists were always correct, when they raised an alert of Islamic terrorist activities in the country every time the so-called religiously sinful targets such as jatras, cinema halls and traditional cultural activities and programs etc. were attacked or bombed? Yet, the government and many people including the intellectuals termed these sensible citizens anti-Bangladeshi, agents of RAW, MOSAD, CIA and what not?

It turns out that what opposition leader Sheikh Hasina has been trying to highlight about the presence of terror organisations (Taliban, al-Qaeda) in the country over the last few years have become true. Of course, being the former PM, Hasina must have known it best, since such terrorist activities started during her tenure itself. But those attacks attracted no tangible actions from her government either. We must not condone the former PM either for her failure to take stark measures to punish those culprits.

The persistent denial of Sheikh Hasina (1999-2001) and Khaleda Zia (2001-2005) governments about the presence of terrorist groups in Bangladesh, despite having all the evidence, is not only a glaringly shameless act but also a sad episode since their denials took lives of more than 200 innocent people. Of course, if not for the pressure from outside - mainly USA, UK and EU - that tragic tale of denial would continue even today. Sadly, it is the responsibility of a democratic government to ensure the welfare of the nation and its citizens! It is a sad and tragic story of denial. But let us hope that the government has finally come to its senses and would take some real measures that would exterminate all the elements behind these tragedies once and for all. Will this desire of the peace-loving common people become a reality or remain a pipe-dream? With Jamaat - the likely behind-the-scene patronisers of these activities - in the alliance government, I am not putting my money in favour of any tangible actions by the government. Only time can tell.

[ Appeared in New Age on 27/09/2005 ]