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VOLATILE BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH'S CONFRONTATIONIST POLITICS has given rise to an intolerance in public life that is alarming. The recent killing of S.A.M.S. Kibria, a former Finance Minister and a prominent member of the Opposition Awami League, in a grenade attack at a public meeting, is a case in point. This was followed by other bombings, one of which killed a journalist. These are bloody reminders of the steady deterioration of political discourse. It was only six months ago that the Awami League leader, Sheikh Hasina, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. The grenade attack on her sparked countrywide protests and expressions of concern by the international community, prompting Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to promise a swift investigation to track down the perpetrators. However, that case appears set to join the long list of unsolved bombings and grenade attacks over the past year. It explains why a similar promise by the Bangladesh Prime Minister in the Kibria murder case has little credibility. The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party has alleged that some of the attacks were engineered by the Opposition to make the Government look bad. If that were true, it should have been all the more in the Government's interests to identify the culprits and get them punished. Its failure to do so has created a climate of impunity and given credence to the charge that it is shielding the elements behind such violence.

The Opposition alleges that extremist groups with links to two Islamist parties in the ruling coalition — the Islamic Oikiya Jote and the Jamaat-e-Islami — are responsible for the violence. It has not helped the Zia Government's image at home or abroad that from about the same time the United States launched its "war on terror" in Afghanistan, Bangladesh has found frequent mention in the annals of international security as a haven for Islamist extremism. While Dhaka vehemently denies reports that link it to extremist groups, its case has not been strengthened by a spate of attacks on religious minorities, especially on members of the Ahamadiyya Muslim sect. The Government's decision in 2004 to ban Ahamaddiya publications seemed only to reinforce the growing influence of the religious Right. It was perhaps to dispel the impression that has gained ground of Bangladesh as a hotbed of religious extremism that two days after the killing of Mr. Kibria, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia formally requested the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist in the investigation. In return, the U.S. is said to have asked for a "clear commitment" from the Government that it wants to solve the case.

New Delhi found the situation in Bangladesh bad enough to cite it as one of the two principal reasons for cancelling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's participation in the Dhaka summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation scheduled for February 6 and 7. But by raising the issue at the last minute and tagging it along with the other, more important reason for the decision — King Gyanendra's February 1 coup in Nepal — India has opened itself to questions about its motives for mentioning it at all. It can be argued that security in the Bangladesh capital became a cause for concern only after the January 27 incident that killed Mr. Kibria, and that the decision not to participate in the summit was guided by the Indian Government's assessment of the situation thereafter. The interesting question is whether Mr. Singh would have called off his Dhaka visit had there been no crisis in Nepal. The developments in Bangladesh certainly have implications for India's security and foreign policy. At the same time, New Delhi should be aware that it must handle relations with Dhaka deftly so as not to give any room for accusations that it is taking sides in Bangladesh's volatile politics.

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