Editorial
Extremists slipping away
Track them down immediately
We share the concerns of the political watchers regarding the extremist elements of nearly 26 other religion-based outfits in the country who still remain untraced. At the moment all eyes are focused on the members of Jamatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) whereas hundreds, perhaps thousands, of trained and motivated activists of parties like Harkatul Jihad, Hijbud Towhid, Harkatul Jihad Al Islami, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, World Islamic Front for Jihad, Jaisey Mohammad etc are roaming the country under various guises. While all the attention and efforts now being directed towards highlighting the arrests of the JMB kingpins these elements are using various tactics at their disposal to evade arrest by the police and other agencies. It is indeed a cause of concern that the security intelligence and police dragnet have been narrowed down considerably to catch only the remaining members of JMB while ignoring the equally dangerous extremist elements of other outfits. In this connection citizens also want to know the outcome of the grilling of Mufti Hannan, the mastermind of Harkatul Jihad, who has been taken on remand for a record number of time. Why other members of the same outfit have not been tracked down by now remains a puzzling question. Incidentally, Harkatul Jihad is considered the oldest extremist group in the country that has many bombings and killings to its credit. Many political analysts are apt to construe that the political cost of tracking down these elements might prove too high. Such notion, if at all entertained, would be very much misplaced because the people want them behind bars. If the religiously motivated extremist elements are not stopped on their track now, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to hold also the elections in a peaceful manner. There is the likelihood that these die-hard elements will create disorder around the polling booths in a bid to sabotage the election. Therefore, we urge the government to have the law enforcing agencies expand their dragnet so that none of the activists of the outlawed parties may slip through.
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