The Friday night terror attack in a restaurant in the upscale neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s teeming capital has shown the spread of Islamic State in a Muslim dominated country. The attackers took a bakery under siege in the daytime and a Spanish eatery at night. The area is home to diplomats as well as the country’s elite. Speculation immediately fell on extremist groups believed to be operating in Bangladesh, including outfits affiliated both with al-Qaeda’s South Asian Wing and the Islamic State. In the past two years, horrific attacks by self-declared Islamists have targeted Hindus, intellectuals, secularist writers and bloggers. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for more attacks in Bangladesh through its social media accounts than in Pakistan or Afghanistan. These include the killing of Italian and Japanese expats and multiple strikes on Shia Muslims. The extremist organisation had called on its fighters and proxies to launch such strikes on soft targets during the holy month of Ramadan around the world. Last month, a senior minister chose to pin the escalation in violence on a vague Israeli conspiracy rather than domestic problems. Political watchers believe the Hasina government has been consolidating its position and suppressing its opponents than tackling the spread of Islamist violence. A recent report said that a skewed judicial system and the heavy-handed rule of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party, which is traditionally secular and center-left, was laying the foundation for further militant violence and unrest. The attack follows a series of murders of foreigners, religious minorities and secular activists in Bangladesh, blamed on or claimed by Islamist terrorists. However, Friday’s attack appears to have been on a much bigger scale and the first time that people were held hostage. India responded with calling world nations to adopt the long-stalled Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) and expressed disappointment that the General Assembly failed to push for its early adoption. Terror is spreading which is a dangerous trend for the sub continent.
