Securing the state, preserving the faith

On Friday, the Jamaat-e-Islami and its bands of roving vandals, along with groups of other fanatics in the country, made their hatred of the People's Republic of Bangladesh known beyond question once again.
In the manner of medieval barbarians, they tried to pounce on people they are happy to call atheists only because these people know of the blood-drenched past of these elements. They had no shame in burning the national flag, reminding us once again of the shamelessness with which they upheld the flag of Pakistan in 1971 and abducted, killed and raped their fellow Bangalees in a war they were doomed to lose.
It was the state of Bangladesh these peddlers of hate sought to humiliate on Friday. It was the holy essence of Islam these purveyors of fanaticism insulted, it was the sacred precincts of mosques they defiled through their irreligiosity when after the Juma prayers they went after citizens on Friday. They deliberately forgot or ignored the sublime teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
There is a clear need today for the state, with its necessarily secular nature, to be made secure through firm, unrelenting action from the vandalism of the Jamaat, its followers and its friends. There is an imperative today for every citizen, across the board and across political convictions and religious beliefs, to come together and add vigour and energy to the struggle to free Bangladesh of these apostates who misrepresent Islam and who have no room in their dark souls for an appreciation of beliefs not their own. People who do not respect their country are people who end up being enemies of their religion.
Back in 1971, the Jamaat and its murder squads al-Badr and al-Shams committed treachery against the land of their birth. Today, the Jamaat and the Shibir and every single fanatic in this country have committed treachery again. They do not remember the three million who died because they helped Pakistan's soldiers to kill them; they look away from the tens of thousands of Bangalee women raped by the soldiers and the Razakars because they cannot face up to the truth of what their earlier generation did in that year of unmitigated horror. They do not remember, deliberately, the scores of leading Bangalees led to their deaths on the eve of liberation by the very war criminals whose freedom they demand today.
And so what must we do to run these vandals out of our lives today?
We must, first, ask the government to take firm action against all these extremists, a task in which it will have the full, unconditional support of the nation -- a truth proved at Projonmo Chottor in recent days. Round up all those who carried out the mayhem on Friday and go after those who organise such chaos and have their secret societies busted decisively.
And then we must make it clear to the government and to scholars and preachers of Islam that measures must be taken to prevent mosques around the country from being used as pulpits by these enemies of the state and religion through ensuring that fanatics do not have access to such holy places.
And, finally, let all Bangalees come together in a huge, great, unmistakable renewal of patriotic spirit -- through adding to the crowds at Projonmo Chottor, through disseminating the message of 1971 and of 2013 across the hamlets and villages and towns of this land.
In 1971, a nation of 75 million people defeated a formidable army of 93,000 genocidal soldiers. In 2013, a nation of 140 million people will not find it hard to send a noisy, ragtag band of fanatics and remnants of al-Badr and al-Shams and Razakars packing.
Nothing, absolutely nothing must come in the way of a proper and judicious prosecution of the trials of those who committed crimes against humanity more than four decades ago and who have brazenly chosen to remain unrepentant about their criminality.