Strange days!
Farhan Quddus, Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani, Dhaka
These are extremely precarious times that we are passing through. The country seemed to have slipped into uncertainty as daily events of violence, chaos and dissent unfold before us. The confidence of the civil society is badly damaged, the ordinary citizens are trapped between fear and confusion as our political parties take random and ill advised actions to try and undermine each other's position. Political violence has replaced rationality. However, what the leading political parties ( the BNP and the Awami League) have failed to assess is the inevitable threat facing them. There is now a silent third force lurking in the shadows, gaining strength through its well organised network at the grassroots level. That force is "religious fundamentalism" and both the BNP and the Awami League are the targets. Begum Zia and Sheikh Hasina have to unite under a common umbrella to discuss ways to tackle this threat. The Awami League should not try to capitalise on the recent grenade attack as a means to oust this government, so that they can take over power, this move will do nothing to curtail the fundamentalist extremism which can , like in the case of Algeria, spill out of control overnight and set this country 100 years back. The ruling party ,with its overall control of the government, should channel its resources directly in fighting this threat and not consider the Awami league an enemy.
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