German envoy for probe between bomb attacks, fundamentalists links
Staff Correspondent
German Ambassador Dietrich Andreach yesterday said any possible link between fundamentalist or extremist groups and the recent spate of bomb attacks should be probed.The string of bomb attacks in the recent years has targeted anti-fundamentalist institutions and parties, which indicates a link that needs to be looked into, observed Andreach on the sidelines of a seminar on Religious Militancy and Security in South Asia, jointly organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (Biiss) and the German Embassy in Dhaka. The German envoy in his speech as the special guest said, "We should explore the fact that knowingly or unknowingly we're supporting religious militancy or religion is being used in politics." Citing recent attacks on the Ahmadiyya community, protests against women sports, existence of the Vested Property Act, Andreach termed these indicators of religious militancy in different forms, saying the government must address the issues. Refuting the German ambassador's statement, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed said findings of the probe into the August 21 grenade attacks on the Awami League (AL) rally have shown that no religious groups were involved and it is inappropriate to bring religion into this matter. Addressing the seminar as the chief guest, Moudud said, "Although fundamentalism and terrorism may exist in Bangladesh, they are too minimal to be threatening." "The situation in India and Pakistan is much worse, and absence of serious communal violence in Bangladesh in the wake of the Gujarat incident testifies to its tolerance," he said, adding, "The recent attacks on the Ahmadiyya sect is an aberration in Bangladesh's long tradition as a moderate and tolerant Muslim state." "We should practice more tolerance," Moudud said, adding, our prime focus should be on achievements made in the development of Bangladesh, especially in education and health sectors. On Iraq war, the law minister said it is a war against terrorism, not Islam. The four-day conference on the current realities of religious militancy and its link with nationalism and terrorism in different countries in the region and possible ways to address the problem started yesterday.
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