Even though the majority of Bangladeshi population hold negative opinion about Islamic extremism and extremist groups, surprisingly, nearly half of Bangladeshis believe that suicide bombing can be justified in some cases.
The Pew Research Centre, a Washington DC-based think tank, carried out the survey in different countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa; and found that concern about Islamic extremism was high among countries with substantial Muslim populations.
In Bangladesh, 69% respondents said they were concerned about Islamic extremism. The number was 66% in Pakistan, 63% in Malaysia and only 39% in Indonesia.
The findings said concern about Islamic extremism was growing in the Middle East while Lebanese, Tunisians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Turks were all more worried about the extremist threat than they were a year ago.
Although only few in the countries surveyed said suicide bombing or other forms of violence against civilian targets was “often” or “sometimes” justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies, 47% Bangladeshi Muslims believed that suicide bombing can be justified, according to the survey.
In Indonesia and Pakistan, one-in-ten Muslims or less said targeting civilians was often or sometimes justified.
Most Bangladeshis, however, had unfavourable opinion against well-known extremist groups. The survey claimed that 66% Bangladeshis had negative opinions of al-Qaeda, while opinion against Hamas and Hezbollah stood at around 56% each for the both groups.