Western Resistance: Bangladesh: Prime Minister Tells Islamic Leaders

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October 6, 2005

Bangladesh: Prime Minister Tells Islamic Leaders - Bombers Will Not be Spared

Bhegum Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and head of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) has met a selection of Islamic alems and olamas (scholars and thinkers) at her office, to mark the start of Ramadan. She told the assembled clerics that the perpetrators of the recent bomb blasts "will not be spared", according to the Daily Star. She told the alems and olamas that innocent people would not be harrassed, and stated that adequate security measures have been taken so that both Ramadan and the Hindu holy festival of Durga Puja could be celebrated with "due religious fervour". There have already been reports of attacks on Hindu idols of the Goddess Durga, who is thought to descend now for four days to earth.

Zia also advised that people should remain alert against terrorist attacks, and keep the sanctity of Ramadan. She also stated that she would keep in place measures to prevent costs of food and other basics from rising. The country under the coalition government is economically falling apart. Prices of basic commodities have been spiralling out of control.

Appreciating the government steps to hunt down the terrorists and unearthing the recent bomb blasts, the Islamic scholars and thinkers said they will unitedly resist the evil attempts of those who in the name of Islam are carrying out terror attacks to undermine Islam and its sanctity.

They assured the prime minister of their all-out support to the government steps to curb terrorism and expressed satisfaction over the steps taken to arrest price hike of essentials.

There was no mention of the coalition government's incompetence in allowing the price hikes to happen, and it seems this meeting was an exercise in window-dressing, an attempt to gloss over some of the huge problems facing the country, environmental as well as Islamist. There are floodings every year, with a current flood making headlines, though little has been done to rehouse people at risk, and to top it all, there is a serious problem with drinking water contaminated by arsenic. While the government is in a shaky coalition and with elections looming, it seems that for those in power, Islamist extremism is a good distraction away from their own failings and inadequacies.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 6, 2005 5:22 PM