Illinois State Politics and Government Professor Ali Riaz recently wrote commentary in the largest circulated English daily in Bangladesh, the Daily Star, on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack at a cafe in the capital of Dhaka.
“The way forward, particularly in the medium- and long-term, is to devise a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy, engage in ideological battle instead of relying on force alone, and lessen the enabling environment.”—Ali Riaz
In the piece titled “Are we safer now?” Riaz examines “the actions of the government and their implications on the one hand, while assessment of the impacts of regional and global events germane to the militancy in Bangladesh, on the other.” Government use of force, he argues, takes center stage in counterterrorism efforts; this comes at the expense of engaging all sectors of society against the recruiting efforts of militant groups.
“The way forward, particularly in the medium- and long-term, is to devise a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy, engage in ideological battle instead of relying on force alone, and lessen the enabling environment.”
