Put a stop to Jamaat's violence

The country has had enough of Jamaat's violence. We have watched with surprise the repeated acts of violence perpetrated by Jamaat over the greater part of last three months in all the major cities and towns of the country. Private and public properties have been destroyed with gay abandon, and the police have been made to look rather amateurish in the face of aggression committed by the party activists.
And we restate our view that Jamaat's activities are no longer confined to the realm of politics but rather degenerating, alarmingly, to acts of terror. It is not politics that they claim they are being prevented from doing. Their activities on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dhaka and Chittagong expose their aim, which is to precipitate a situation, and gain political mileage.
We wonder why the police are being repeatedly caught off guard. Is the reaction of the party unpredictable? The agencies should have seen what was coming and prepared well for it. In certain cases the police against severe odds had managed to preempt Jamaat's vandalism while in certain cases they were not able to do so. We suggest that not only should the police revisit their operational procedures against Jamaat, they should also acquire the capacity to anticipate and thwart Jamaat's movements through timely intelligence before they are able to indulge in violent acts.
According to the police, Jamaat cadres are said to be gravitating towards Dhaka. We hope Jamaat will realise that the strategy it has assumed will not only fail, it will also prove disastrous. Violence will not earn it any advantage, because no amount of violence can deflect the trial of the war criminals or earn the party any reprieve politically. They must prepare for what is coming and accept the verdict of the court or contest it legally. It is not time for violence but for atonement for their deeds of 1971. Jamaat will do well to abandon the baggage of the past and start to live with the realties of the present.