Carnage in Bangladesh Faced with a number of murderous attacks on individuals
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Faced with a number of murderous attacks on individuals that included secular bloggers, Hindus, Buddhist and Christians, at least some of them claimed by IS or Al Qaeda, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid categorically stated that neither the IS or Al Qaeda had a foothold in Bangladesh and that the perpetrators were locals in terms of both breeding and instigation. That is not an incongruous argument, given the fact that Bangladesh has seen fundamentalist and nationalistic violence since it became an independent country after a bloody civil war in 1971. Substantial part of the able bodied Bengalis were involved with violence and bloodshed in 1971 and thereafter. The parallels that have been drawn between the current terrorising of the intelligentsia and the efforts to effectively eliminate it 45 years ago are in fact far from ridiculous. Many analysts are of the view that belated recent trials of Jamaat-i-Islami old, ailing and frail, followed in some cases by executions, are a crucial motivating factor in the murderous campaign against those seen as particular foes of the fundamentalist creed. Political opponents have been put on controversial trials, nearly half a century after their purported deeds were perpetrated. Many international observers have expressed dissatisfaction at the conduct of the trials. Universal standard of law of evidence were not followed during these trial. Through special legislation the courts holding these trials of so called war crimes were not required to follow the basic tenets of laws of evidence in blatant violation of basic human rights. In brief, whether or not justice was done, it wasn’t seen to be done.
That plays into the narrative that the Awami League government is more concerned about scoring political points — the Jamaat being an ally of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia — than about pursuing historical justice.