Murders, repression: Bangladesh government must tighten security and let civil society breathe

Times of India editorial

The horrific spate of murders of intellectuals, bloggers and activists by Islamists in Bangladesh continues apace. In the latest killings Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim, editor of an LGBT magazine Xulhaz Mannan, and theatre artiste Mahbub Tonoy were hacked to death in two separate incidents. While the Islamic State terror group has claimed Karim’s killing, a branch of al-Qaida has taken responsibility for the Mannan and Tonoy murders. However, the Bangladeshi government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to deny the presence of the transnational terror groups in the country and blames the violence on home-grown extremists.

That’s cold comfort when the government is unable to control the spate of killings. Even more bizarre is Hasina’s and her ministers’ repeated assertions that secular writers and bloggers should refrain from hurting religious sentiments. The victims cannot be blamed for bringing the attacks upon themselves. Taken together, an impression is growing in Bangladesh that the Hasina administration is in denial about ground realities and giving in to autocratic tendencies in dealing with criticism. The filing of sedition cases against Mahfuz Anam, respected editor of the Daily Star, for publishing stories critical of Hasina eight years ago exemplifies this point.

Add to this the fact that there’s no real opposition in the Bangladesh parliament today – the official parliamentary opposition Jatiya Party has three members in the Hasina cabinet. This has allowed criticism of Bangladesh’s ongoing 1971 war crimes trials as targeting leaders of only the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami – the actual opposition to the ruling Awami League. It’s in this situation that groups like IS are threatening to turn Bangladesh into their hub for launching attacks even inside India. To counter this Hasina must rein in her government’s autocratic tendencies, enforce law and order and permit pluralism. That’s what New Delhi ought to be telling her as well.