Editorial
Fighting terrorism
Build up on the successes
It was said by a senior UN official Muhammad Rafiuddin Shah during a counter-terrorism workshop that Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in fighting terrorism through well-thought-out policies. He added that the UN will always extend its support to Bangladesh in its counter-terrorism fight. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni reverberated his views and emphasized her government's success in formulating laws and implementing them to combat terrorist activities altogether. While assurance of UN assistance is undoubtedly a positive inspiration, we are still far from a situation where complacence seems warranted.
We welcome the fact that law enforcers have sporadically made successful busts of terrorist hideouts, exposing their clandestine activities and links with organized local or suspected foreign groups. We also note the present government's success in dismantling religious extremist outfits. Still, we stress the need for more intensive training for the relevant agencies. Overall, regional networking within the SAARC should be an important element of counter-terrorism strategy.
However, we feel the threats from ideological extremist outfits still lurk. The causes that spawn and help spread extremist ideology are still there and these must be rooted out by exposing wrong interpretation of religion.
Those who mentor and pursue extremism try to cash in on poverty and other vulnerabilities of the people. This bring into a sharp focus the agenda for poverty alleviation which will have to be implemented on a vigorous scale.
Another point to address is to incorporate materials in children's textbooks that would infuse in them the spirit of secularism and democracy, thus creating a bastion against terrorism.
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