Fingers pointed at religious fanatics

Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, Sultana Kamal, Prof Anwar Hossain and Prof Imtiaz Ahmed

Prof Muzaffer Ahmad
Result of 'unrest' in society
Noted economist and academician Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said the coup attempt is the result of 'unrest' prevailing in society.
"The military force is not isolated from our society. The force is influenced by ongoing unrest in our society," he said.
He said, "Although we are living in a democratic country, we are yet to absorb democratic behaviour and culture. This is why such incidents occur."
He also stressed the need for national unity on welfare of the nation to avert such attempts in future.

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DR Akbar Ali Khan
Isolated incident in army
Adviser to a former caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan termed the coup attempt an internal and isolated matter of the army. He was of the opinion that it has been successfully tackled.
“Things are quite under the control of the government and the army,” he said, observing that any change in the government must take place in a democratic and constitutional way.
“Nothing extra-constitutional should happen,” Akbar Ali Khan, also a former cabinet secretary, told The Daily Star.

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Sultana Kamal
It's a bid to foil war crimes trial
The coup attempt is not surprising as the fanatic forces that were patronised in all sectors after 1975 are now desperate to foil the war crimes trial, said human rights activist Sultana Kamal.
“Over the years the fanatic forces have been infiltrated. They have anxieties now and it is natural that they would react,” she told The Daily Star, suggesting that all the entities of the state act according to the constitution and laws of the country.
Sultana Kamal, also adviser to a former caretaker government, lauded the army for foiling the coup bid and holding a press conference to clear any confusion.
“Though there is no scope to verify the statements of ISPR [Inter-Services Public Relations], they started informing people. Thus, I think, a process of getting transparency has started,” she said.

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Prof Anwar Hossain
A plot of religious fanatics
Dhaka University Teachers' Association president Prof Anwar Hossain termed the coup attempt a conspiracy against the ongoing trial of people who committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
The top war criminals are now in jail and it is very much true that conspiracy is going on to foil the ongoing trial against them, Prof Anwar said, adding, “The army is a strong pillar of a state...
“The army has identified a band of religious fanatics behind the coup attempt. But we have been stating it for long that Jamaat-e-Islami has put their cadres into the army in a planned way which is very dangerous,” he commented.
Prof Anwar congratulated the army for disclosing the facts of the foiled coup. He thinks that the army should have disclosed the facts a bit earlier since the coup attempt was partly disclosed through blogs and facebook in last few days.
“People are the ultimate source of power and such conspiracy should be faced with people supportive of the pro-democracy forces,” he added.

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Prof Imtiaz Ahmed
Political polarisation behind it
Noted international affairs expert Prof Imtiaz Ahmed said political polarisation in Bangladesh has created room for a third force to meddle in politics. The third force will have a role in politics until polarisation ends.
He emphasised the need for immediately collecting more information to understand the depth of the coup attempt and praised the force for handling the matter professionally.