Just like the concept of Hindu truth and Muslim truth is gaining ground in India, there will now be a P-I truth (folks who believe in the spirit of partition I) and a P-II truth in Bangladesh. On similar lines we can also expect a Buddhist/Tamil truth in Sri Lanka and a Shia/Sunni truth in Pakistan.
Our expectation about Bangladesh is that it will (over time) follow the Pakistan trajectory. Just like Basant is now banned in Lahore, Poila Baisakh (new year) will eventually come to an end in Dhaka. As we have seen in Iraq, islamists have God on their side and will relish a fight to the bitter end. Hangings will create future martyrs for the misty eyed lads of today.
……..
A Bangladeshi court sentenced eight militants to death on Monday for a
2001 bomb attack that killed 10 people during new year celebrations in
the capital Dhaka.
“The attack was carried out to destabilise the
country and create panic, “Judge Ruhul Amin said as he delivered the
verdict in a crowded court in Dhaka’s old city.
The head of the
outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI) outfit, Mufti Abdul Hannan,
was among the eight who were ordered hanged for targeting the
celebrations in Dhaka’s main park which they deemed un-Islamic.
The
judge also sentenced six others to life in prison for setting off two
bombs as thousands of revellers were celebrating the first day of
Bengali New Year on April 14, 2001.
“It’s a heinous attack and
unprecedented in our history,” prosecutor Abdullah Abu told reporters
after the verdicts were announced.
“We’re happy with the eight
death sentenced, but not satisfied with the sentencing of six people who
were given life terms. We’ll appeal against the life sentences. “
The
HuJI chief, better known as Mufti Hannan, is already on death row
having been convicted in 2008 for trying to assassinate the British high
commissioner four years earlier in a grenade attack.
A lawyer for
the defendants, Faruque Ahmed, told AFP that he planned to appeal the
verdicts which he said were politically motivated and designed to “make
people happy in certain quarters”.
Mufti Hannan, who fought
alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan’s civil war, is also accused of
having been behind a plot to assassinate the current Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina when she was leader of the opposition in 2004.
……
Link: http://www.dawn.com/news/1114609/eight-bangladesh-militants-to-hang-for-2001-bombing
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regards