The landscape of terrorism has changed in the last few years in Bangladesh and globally but the threat remains, as terrorists are not sitting idle. They use technologies and are active virtually in the cyber domain and online, speakers at a roundtable discussion have said.
Technology appears to be up against a new threat in the coming days. It is not just a means of communication for terrorists, who often use technology in recruiting and radicalizing people. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies should have a strategic action plan in place and work with technology to tackle them, they added.
The experts were deliberating at a roundtable, titled “The Changing Contours of Terrorism - A Threat Assessment”, organized by the leading English daily Dhaka Tribune and Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) at a Dhaka hotel as part of a series of discussions on important national and international issues.
BIPSS President Maj Gen (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman moderated the roundtable while Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan delivered closing remarks. The roundtable brought together academics, local and foreign security experts, diplomats, former and serving law enforcement agency officials, journalists and university students.
BIPSS Research Fellow Shafqat Munir, who heads the Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research (BCTR), and Prof ASM Ali Ashraf of the Department of International Relations at Dhaka University, spoke at the event as panelists.
Shafqat Munir presented a comprehensive overview of terrorism in a global context, focusing on the trends of terrorism in the evolving situation. The threat of terrorism, he argued, remains despite no successful terrorist operation having taken place in the last few years.
BIPSS Research Fellow Shafqat Munir Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneHe said terrorists change their techniques to spread their ideologies, ways of attacking people by using new technologies, which is very alarming. Attacks on utility services through using bio-weapons are a matter of concern now, he said.
“The contours of terrorism have been changing but the threat remains; we should work to curtail the threat,” he added.
Prof ASM Ali Ashraf dwelt on the challenges to tackling terrorism. He focused on crime and the terrorism nexus in his analysis of the global terrorism index.
Prof ASM Ali Ashraf Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneHe said: "Criminals are profit-driven entities and terrorists are politically motivated entities. But both groups communicate with each other in funding, recruiting and protecting themselves."
He suggested monitoring cyber space as currently terrorists are present both online and offline. And they are moving across the online platform very fast.
In his remarks, Maj Gen (Retd) Muniruzzaman said the landscape of terrorism has changed in the last few years, but the threat remains. Along with the government, citizens should play a vital role in tackling radicalization in society.
BIPSS President Maj Gen (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneHe said in the context of Bangladesh counter measures have so far only been in the conative domain, with no counter terrorism architecture being there. There is also a coordination gap among the law enforcement agencies on tackling terrorism.
Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan said an absence of terrorist attacks does not mean an absence of the threat of attacks. “We need to collectively remove the threat of terrorism in society,” he noted.
Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneHe said the situation regarding terrorism in Bangladesh in 2022 has improved, the threat is much lower than in past. “But we did not take steps toward deradicalization and as such long term terrorism will remain until its root causes are addressed,” he added.
"We should encourage society level discussions to make people aware of the situation," he stated.
Among others, Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Mahmud Hussain, former Ambassador, and Distinguished Expert at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) Lt Gen (Retd) ATM Zahirul Alam, former Commandant of National Defence College Group Captain Zahidul Islam Khan, BSMRAAU, Founder Trustee and Treasurer of Bangladesh Islamic University Prof Md Shah Alam, Consultant Editor of the Daily Prothom Alo Ayesha Kabir, former Ambassador to Libya Major General (Retd) Md Shahidul Haque, and Umme Salma Tarin, Assistant Professor of the Department of International Relations, Bangladesh University of Professionals, also spoke at the roundtable.
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Mahmud Hussain Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Lt Gen (Retd) ATM Zahirul Alam Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Consultant Editor of Prothom Alo Ayesha Kabir Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Former ambassador to Libya Major General (Retd) Md Shahidul Haque Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Founder Trustee and Treasurer of Bangladesh Islamic University Prof Md Shah Alam Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Former commandant of National Defence College Group Captain Zahidul Islam Khan Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Umme Salma Tarin, Assistant Professor of the Department of International Relations, BUP Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneNafis Farhan Kabir, Fahin Rahman, Noor-A-Jannat Tomisra and some other students from the Criminology Department of Dhaka University placed a number of questions before the panelists.
