A Bengali daily (Prothom Alo, August 9, 2004) reported that during the last six years, there were as many as 14 blasts in Sylhet. The police could not unearth anything yet. Last Thursday, two cinema halls experienced bomb blasts while an abandoned bomb was recovered from another cinema hall. This was followed by another blast last Saturday in a local hotel. The city mayor escaped the attack, but a local Awami League (AL) leader was killed and 30 others injured. Bomb spectre now haunts Sylhet.

The reactions of the government
Despite successive blasts at short intervals, there has not been any government reaction either in the form of a press note or press briefing by the Home Ministry. What has come out in the print, however, is the reactions of the Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

In an interview with the BBC, the Minister candidly admitted the limitations that the government had, although what the limitations were was not spelt out. The Minister referred to the already known fact that earlier when the British High Commissioner was injured, Scotland Yard came and conducted investigations. The government might seek cooperation and help from the British government and also technical help from the Chinese. The Minister also stated that "suspects were being netted but the real culprits avoided arrests."

The above views of the Minister leave a lot of questions unanswered. First, what happened to the results of the investigation conducted earlier by Scotland Yard? Second, what prevents the government from establishing charges against the suspects already netted? Third, how is it that real culprits are avoiding arrest? Fourth, how can the real culprits avoid arrest if the government is determined to arrest them? Fifth, what exactly are the limitations that prevent the government from arresting the real culprits? Is it political? Is it something else?

Reactions from the police administration
The reactions from the police administration following successive bomb blasts in Sylhet found expression in the form of shuffle and reshuffle of police personnel in the subordinate ranks. What is most disconcerting is the fact that some police officers are also suspected. These officers, as reported in the press, were brought on transfer to Sylhet from the south-western district. It looks more like a belated realisation than any serious move to nab the offenders. Transfers on grounds of suspected collusion with criminals is no punishment. If these police personnel are suspects, there must be full scale inquiry and appropriate action based on the results of the inquiry. This was more or less the reaction from an English daily (The Daily Star, August 12, 2004). In an editorial, the daily called the steps taken to be merely cosmetic and suggested sterner action.

Politics of bomb blasts
The not too infrequent bomb blasts have led to politics of bomb blasts. It is said that the four party alliance leaders in Sylhet laid the blame of the blast on AL activists. They accused the AL of creating anarchy with ulterior motive. The local AL leaders including the mayor rejected the allegations and blamed the stating that the plan is to "kill all top leaders of the party across the country."

Indeed allegations and counter-allegations on bomb blasts or other forms of attack on human lives are nothing new. When Bangladesh's leading poet Shamsur Rahman was attacked on January 18, 1999, similar types of reactions based on narrow party considerations were published in the press. The BNP supporters, then in opposition, accused the members of the Chhatro League, the student wing of the AL, for the dastardly attack on the poet. Most of the media blamed it on Harkutal Jihad, an Islamic extremist group.

The hassle over burial of the dead
It is reported in the press that the slain AL leader, whose dead body was sent to his home in

Chittagong, could not be buried until August 9. The metropolitan police of that city declined to hand over the body without a post-mortem although post-mortem was carried out in Sylhet on Sunday last. Why there the need for a second post-mortem is not clear. Nor has it been explained by the Chittagong metropolitan police (CMP). However, a cartoon appearing in a Bengali daily (Prothom Alo, August 11, 2004) suggested that it was done under instructions from higher authorities in Dhaka. Is that right? There are laid-down rules of the issue. Is it fair to interfere with the laid-down rules? This response from CMP is more likely to create legal difficulties relating to the evidence before a competent court of law if and when the offenders are brought to justice. Which of the two post-mortem reports would be admissible in evidence is a question that remains unanswered.

The theory of conspiracy
In the confrontational nature of politics in Bangladesh, the phrase "conspiracy" is widely used by one political party or the other. The deteriorating law and order situation and its widely differing interpretations is also not immune from the use of the term "conspiracy" depending on which side you are on. This extends beyond the political arena to include the press. One such interpretation relating to bomb blasts in Bangladesh relies on the places of occurrence of blasts. Sylhet, Jessore, Khulna, and Mymensingh districts are cited in support of this line of reasoning. The aforesaid districts are all in border belts. Claims are made to show that the bombs come from across the border.

The continuing trend of bomb blasts is often interpreted as part of a conspiracy to stigmatise Bangladesh as a Muslim terrorist state. This line of argument, in the view of many, is wholly untenable. International news agencies reported Indian claims that separatist guerrillas and Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were using Bangladesh territory for attacks on India, a charge both Bangladesh and Pakistan denied. Indeed, it was also reported that in 2002, New Delhi gave Dhaka a list of 99 alleged terrorist camps in Bangladesh. Bangladesh responded by saying that no such camps existed in the country. The recently concluded meet between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India indicate that BSF had handed a list of 195 insurgent camps over to BDR. BSF had also proposed joint operations. The existence of any such camps including the offer of joint operations was officially rejected by BDR.

Administrative limitations
The Local Government Minister did not spell out the limitations of the government in effectively dealing with continuing bomb blasts. However, a published report identifies a number of limitations. First, the inattention on the part of the government to modernise the intelligence agencies. Second, lack of coordination between intelligence agencies and the police. Third, the real culprits remain "untouchables" because of political protection. Is it impossible to overcome the aforesaid limitations?

Indeed, following the biggest ever arms haul in Chittagong a few months back, suggestions were given by independent experts to seek the help of Interpol. This was not accepted by the government. It is felt that there is need to work out a strategy to effectively deal with the continuing trend of bomb blasts for which independent opinion is necessary.

More bomb scares
The latest in the series is not bomb blast, but a bomb scare. Following a telephone call about bombs that would blow up a Biman plane at Sylhet airport, security was stepped up and the airport was put on red alert. This was followed by another such bomb scare at Dhaka University. Whether the anonymous callers doing this for the fun of it or keeping the law-enforcing agencies busy remains unclear. The bomb scare, however, remains a fact of life as much as bomb blasts.

AMM Shawkat Ali, PhD, is a former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture.