Militant extremists beware

The recent raid of a suspected militant hideout in Moulvibazar is yet another message to any would-be extremists that Bangladesh is not the place for militancy.

The stellar job done by our counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies in the hilly areas of Kulaura has resulted in at least 10 apprehensions from a new militant outfit going by the name “Imam Mahmuder Kafela” which includes the organization’s leadership.

While Bangladesh has successfully thwarted innumerable acts of terrorism in the years since the devastating attack on Holey Artisan cafe -- an incident that shook the nation, and indeed the world, to the core -- the threat of extremist violence is ever evolving, and our government and law enforcement agencies need to always be two steps ahead in this fight.

We need to stay vigilant.

Raiding militant dens is, however, only half of what constitutes the fight against extremism. The key is to understand and push back against the forces which lead to law-abiding citizens to become radicalized in the first place. It is no big secret that a majority of the people arrested in cases relating to terrorist activities, an overwhelming majority were found to have been radicalized through social media.

This is the domain of our intelligence units, and it needs to find a way to understand early signs of radicalization in order to prevent those who are especially vulnerable from taking up arms for a cause they perhaps don’t even understand. However, it is incredibly important to ensure that such activities are carried out without encroaching over the personal freedoms of a citizen.

One way of carrying this out is to rehabilitate those who have already been apprehended and have them play an active role in anti-terrorist campaigns. However, given the close proximity that Islamist militancy has to Islam itself, our large community of imams and religious leaders can also help by reaching out to their congregations and spreading the message that violent extremism is not the way.

It is only through understanding each other that we can truly live in harmony.
Bangladesh is no place for extremists, we need to have this message be heard loud and clear.