The threat of terrorism in the country evoked mixed reactions when the respondents of an opinion poll were asked about their thoughts on this.
While only 13.8% believe that it is the most important issue in the country that needs immediate addressing, more than 71% agree that terrorism is a major threat for the country.
The survey was conducted at the end of January by Bangla Tribune on the completion of two years in office by the current government. A total of 4,950 people were interviewed one-to-one from across the country for the poll.
Nationwide, people felt eliminating terrorism was the fourth most important issue for the government, behind political stability, holding national elections, and economic development.
For the people polled from seven divisional cities, eliminating terrorism is even less of a priority, with less than 10% out of the 2,100 respondents from the urban areas terming terrorism as the government’s top priority.
Most women too do not see eliminating terrorism as the biggest national priority. Only 14.5% of the female respondents thought that terrorism was a big issue facing the country.
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Respondents from Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions are most concerned about terrorism, perhaps due to the recent spate of terrorist attacks recorded in these regions.
People from the Khulna and Sylhet appear least concerned about terrorism.
Asked who is most responsible for the spike in militancy in the country, 33% blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Interestingly, however, more than 21% held the current government most responsible, while only 6.5% thought the BNP was most to blame.
Here, as well, Khulna and Sylhet stand out. Both these regions said the government was more responsible than Jamaat for the recent rise in militant activities.
In Khulna, 32% said government was responsible versus 29% for Jamaat.
In Sylhet, 22.7% blamed the government, versus just 19.3% who held Jamaat most responsible.
A significant majority (65.7%) of the respondents said no when asked if there was any existence of the international terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) in the country.
