<div>The terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave on Friday night in which at least 20 hostages, including a young Indian woman, were killed, marks a significant scaling up in the violence and terror that religious radicals are unleashing in Bangladesh. The country is no stranger to violence; its birth in 1971 came amidst unprecedented bloodshed. Since then, hundreds have been slaughtered. In the last three years alone, radical Islamists killed over 40 atheists, intellectuals, secular-liberals and members of Bangladesh's religious minorities. Hitherto, they targeted people individually. On Friday, they not only went on a killing spree but also sliced their victims, who were mainly foreigners and non-Muslims. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. Bangladesh’s government has in the past denied the presence of global jihadist groups like the IS or al-Qaeda. The sheer scale of Friday’s attack indicates that the IS may have indeed established firm roots in Bangladesh. Rising religious radicalism in the country has fostered dozens of extremist outfits and some of them are likely to have established links with IS and other global jihadists.<br /><br />Bangladesh’s Awami League government has been in a state of denial, insisting that the terror attacks are sporadic and that the situation is under control. Its response on Friday night – it was almost eight hours before commandos arrived on the scene – indicates that the government was hardly prepared and was clearly caught off guard. It cannot escape responsibility for the rising radicalism in the country. It held war crimes trials that did not follow due process. These trials were used to decimate the AL’s local opposition rather than delivering justice for victims of the genocide in 1971. It contributed to a surge in religious radicalism. It avoided bringing to justice those who killed the secular-liberals and atheists over the last couple of years as it did not want to be seen as anti-Islam. It cracked down on political rivals <br />but allowed extremism to grow.<br /><br />The attack in Dhaka is a wake-up call for India. While Delhi has focussed on extremism emanating from Pakistan, it has tended to downplay the magnitude of this threat from Bangladesh. Delhi needs to ensure that extremism in Bangladesh does not spill over into India. Additionally, it must wake up to the fact that it is not just Pakistan that is in the IS’ crosshairs; the threat is spreading to other parts of South Asia too. While Delhi should support Dhaka’s fight against extremism, it must avoid getting entangled in the operations on Bangladesh soil. It could share intelligence and provide a ring of security at sea to prevent radicals fleeing Dhaka’s crackdown.<br /><br /></div>
<div>The terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave on Friday night in which at least 20 hostages, including a young Indian woman, were killed, marks a significant scaling up in the violence and terror that religious radicals are unleashing in Bangladesh. The country is no stranger to violence; its birth in 1971 came amidst unprecedented bloodshed. Since then, hundreds have been slaughtered. In the last three years alone, radical Islamists killed over 40 atheists, intellectuals, secular-liberals and members of Bangladesh's religious minorities. Hitherto, they targeted people individually. On Friday, they not only went on a killing spree but also sliced their victims, who were mainly foreigners and non-Muslims. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. Bangladesh’s government has in the past denied the presence of global jihadist groups like the IS or al-Qaeda. The sheer scale of Friday’s attack indicates that the IS may have indeed established firm roots in Bangladesh. Rising religious radicalism in the country has fostered dozens of extremist outfits and some of them are likely to have established links with IS and other global jihadists.<br /><br />Bangladesh’s Awami League government has been in a state of denial, insisting that the terror attacks are sporadic and that the situation is under control. Its response on Friday night – it was almost eight hours before commandos arrived on the scene – indicates that the government was hardly prepared and was clearly caught off guard. It cannot escape responsibility for the rising radicalism in the country. It held war crimes trials that did not follow due process. These trials were used to decimate the AL’s local opposition rather than delivering justice for victims of the genocide in 1971. It contributed to a surge in religious radicalism. It avoided bringing to justice those who killed the secular-liberals and atheists over the last couple of years as it did not want to be seen as anti-Islam. It cracked down on political rivals <br />but allowed extremism to grow.<br /><br />The attack in Dhaka is a wake-up call for India. While Delhi has focussed on extremism emanating from Pakistan, it has tended to downplay the magnitude of this threat from Bangladesh. Delhi needs to ensure that extremism in Bangladesh does not spill over into India. Additionally, it must wake up to the fact that it is not just Pakistan that is in the IS’ crosshairs; the threat is spreading to other parts of South Asia too. While Delhi should support Dhaka’s fight against extremism, it must avoid getting entangled in the operations on Bangladesh soil. It could share intelligence and provide a ring of security at sea to prevent radicals fleeing Dhaka’s crackdown.<br /><br /></div>
