In another vicious manifestation of Jamaat-Shibir disloyalty to the country they have not only made light of the law and social discipline but also openly and brazenly tried to undermine some of the values and principles we hold dear in this sovereign country. The act of burning the national flag, we must state clearly, is a treasonable offence and proves once again that those indulging in it are yet to acknowledge the emergence of Bangladesh. All this goes to prove that they are yet to reconcile to the reality of Bangladesh.
Letting this crime go unpunished can only undermine the collective self-esteem of the Bengali nation. There are reports of these fanatics insulting the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which again testifies to their sinister aim of taking Bangladesh back into a dark era from which it has re-emerged only recently. Let the authorities go into firm action against these peddlers of philistinism.
And now that these elements, spewing hatred against the people of Bangladesh and undermining the pure essence of Islam and the state, have had the audacity to vandalise Shaheed Minars across the country, the state must come down with a firm hand and punish them. By daring to attack the very symbol of the glorious Language Movement, these denizens of the dark have committed not just high crime but sin of the most diabolical kind. They must not be allowed to get away with impunity.
It is time for Bangladesh's people to come together in defence of the values of our Liberation War. For the machinery of the state, the time is one for firm, unrelenting action to be taken rather than platitudes being repeated. If we cannot neutralise these hooligans masquerading as political workers and activists, we will pay a heavy price for our failure.