Foreign policy
It is indeed a commendable act by the newly appointed PM to appoint Dipu Moni as the country's first woman foreign minister. It is hoped that this will translate into a more level headed and sober approach to all affairs foreign and their offshoots pertaining to domestic issues too. Her initial comments about dealing with militancy and terrorism are of some concern here and it requires some reflection. Your paper quoted her saying:
"Militancy and terrorism are not limited to geographical boundary. For that reason, we will take effective steps to fight it in consultation with our neighbouring countries as we want peace and stability in the entire region."
Although she is absolutely right that militancy and terrorism are not confined by geography, but, on the other hand, the fight against it is led by nations that practise state militancy and terrorism the world over, have no concern for human life other than their own citizens and have total disregard for international law and justice, i.e. the US and Israel et al. Therefore she needs to take a cautious approach to these "steps" she is about to take.
Also it is vital that she does not rely too much on these foreign nations to address the problem of militancy and terrorism as that could be quite detrimental to the interest of BD. Moreover, she must not allow these "consultations" to facilitate dictations from the foreigners who will not have the interest of BD at the forefront and their "advice" if adopted in any policy could lead to unnecessary civil unrest. Since militancy is erroneously connected with Islam these days, she would do well to be mindful of the fundamental nature of Islam, i.e. it is a spiritual-political ideology (Deen), has a political face to it and many Bengalis exercise it. This awareness will equip her to be able to decipher legitimate non-violent Islamic political expressions from mindless militancy.
She must not equate legitimate Islamic political expressions such as a radically expressed alternative Islamic economic solution to poverty in BD with militancy or legitimate resistance such as protesting BSF activities on the BD border with terrorism.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments