Additional IGP SM Ruhul Amin, also chief of the police's Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), yesterday said that there is no reason to be relaxed that militancy is uprooted from the country.
He said: "The militants are not sitting quietly. We see militants being terribly active on social media. It came up during cyber patrolling by ATU members.
He said this at a workshop, titled "Role of media in preventing extremism, militancy and violent extremism", at the Multipurpose Hall of the Police Staff College in Mirpur.
Additional IGP Amin said: "Media workers have an opportunity to make the public aware of the activities of militants online, how a young person gets involved in militancy without realizing it, and the dangers and horrors of those involved in militancy."
Addressing the media, the ATU chief said: "If we all work from a place of patriotism, nothing harmful will happen to society." If the media keeps these things in mind while reporting the news, there should be no problem. In times of free flow of news, no organization has a chance to protect its image without the help of the media."
He further said: "There are two things in providing information: one we give, the other you do on the ground. One such act occurred during the attack on Holy Artisan. Due to the work of the media workers, the militants knew the location of the law and order forces from the inside. Caution should be exercised in these cases."
ATU's DIG (Operations) Moniruzzaman said: "In the fight against militancy in Bangladesh, the media has shown a lot of capability. They kept what needed to be kept hidden. In fact, militancy cannot be controlled by the state apparatus alone. There is a need for coordination, public participation, and the continuous supportive role of the media. Our data system needs to be more updated, because those who get involved in extremism find it difficult to return to normal life."
Dhaka University Associate Professor Shabnam Azim of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism presented the main article in the workshop.
