You see, our fundamentalist brothers are not like us, the lesser mortals, who do not want to leave this earth unless we really have to. Most of us pack up quite reluctantly. But our brothers with bombs are only too eager to go to heaven to exploit the bounties. That is why they do not like anything about this earth -- like the food, fruits and the human race.

They only want to pray and sit around in groups in between prayers and talk about others who do not pray. They do not work because they expect others to feed them. They are happy that some black money owners, corrupt politicians, NGOs, and foreign countries are sending money to keep them fed, clothed and armed. Life is so easy, so why bother to till the land or work in a factory? That's not for us; we are into religion! Work is for the sinners.

But, do the leaders of these misguided young militants actually cherish the idea of going to heaven before time? Do they despise the idea of earthly gifts, possessions and pleasures? It does not seem so. The top leaders like to raise a family and live in comfort with cell phones. They do not have to do any work since money comes from the donors. All they have to do is brainwash poor village boys in the name of religion so that they go and blow-up people. And the leaders wait for the opportunity to grab state power.

There is more fun in wielding earthly power over illiterate, poor people; driving around in expensive earthly automobiles and so on. That is why the top leaders of JMB did not want to take a premature trip to heaven in the end, and, accordingly, for the love of their life, sent the mercy petition to the president. But didn't they reject their trial under Taguti law? Remember, how strong their voice was before the current government came to power? Why did they look so defiant and dared to smile in the courts after arrest? Did they expect a dramatic turn of events through the intervention of some powerful quarter?

In fact, some bizarre acts in the JMB drama remain to be explained by the then home ministry bigwigs, some of whom even looked for the possibility of Hindu militants blowing themselves up to establish Islamic laws! Bravo! Next, why and how an under-trial prisoner (Sunny) could appear before the national electronic media to weep in repentance for his acts and call his comrades, including his brother the high priest, to lay down arms and surrender to the law? Who gave the permission to stage such a drama? Was that part of a ploy to arrange for general amnesty for the criminals touching on people's religious sentiment? Shouldn't investigators look into this if we really want to get to the bottom of the entire scam?

At the same time, investigators should also look into all types of activities going on inside the madrasas in the country. Most of these places, especially in the remote areas, are nothing but recruitment and training centres for the future militants. A raid in these institutes any time of the day would reveal numerous booklets on how to prepare bombs and how to organise jihad; CDs on training; cassettes containing Urdu and Bengali speeches of militant leaders of the subcontinent; and last but not least, hideous looking choppers (chapati) with very long blades that have nothing to do with religious education.

Then what are those doing there? Why no one dares to challenge the madrasa authorities? Is it because of the fear of invoking divine wrath? Has divinity and piety got anything to do with a bunch of nitwits who go around intimidating people in the name of religion?

Surprisingly, these illiterate yet dangerously motivated people have been in the centre stage of religious education having no grasp on intellectual elucidation of the esoteric.

And yet, educated people, weak in the mind, have been taking them home to earn the favours of God! Why don't they pray or cry themselves? Why should some imbeciles cry for their salvation!

In order to check the growth of militancy in Bangladesh, existing laws have to be applied forcefully; new laws have to be created; madrasa education has to be modified with the inclusion of English language proficiency course and vocational training and computer skill training courses.

A special body has to be created to monitor every activity taken by the madrasa authorities. And a joint monitoring system may be developed with the West Bengal government to keep eyes on the cross border movement of militant madrasa students on two sides of the border. It is a problem that was never looked into. If implemented effectively, this would help contain the inflow of bombs, detonators and small arms from the other side of the border.

Lastly, community leaders and common villagers inside the country need to be educated and demotivated through organizing discussion meetings on the importance of maintaining religious harmony in society as well as the demerits of militancy in a modern era. They need to be told that militancy and religiosity are not synonymous. By all means, religion cannot be left in the hands of the imbeciles.

Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.