The horrific and dastardly attack on innocent civilians in an upscale bakery in a posh section of Dhaka, which took the lives of 22 persons, mainly foreigners, is yet another instance of the rise in terrorism in the country. However, those who have been closely following Bangladesh politics might have seen this coming.
Over the past last three years, over 30 people belonging to minority communities, mainly Hindus, have been brutally murdered by machete-wielding radicals. They had also not spared Muslim secular writers, publishers and bloggers for raising their voices against extremist ideology. The recent attack, unlike the earlier lone wolf attacks, is certainly not the handiwork of these local elements. The way the attack was planned and executed points a finger either at the Islamic State group or al-Qaida, though the government has been quick to blame local groups for carrying out the attack. So far, Bangladesh's government has refused to accept the involvement of either IS or al-Qaida for the attack.
In the earlier isolated attacks, the Bangladeshi government blamed the main opposition for its complicity, and also failed to follow the trail of radical elements affiliated to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). It had also criticized the secular writers for misinterpreting Islam, and thereby provoking the radical elements. Unfortunately, the government's approach only emboldened the fringe groups carrying out attacks on people belonging to religious minority groups as well as expatriates. By not going after the extremist groups, the government is solely responsible for the rise of religious extremism in Bangladesh.