‘Militants scheming against Bangladesh, India’

Speakers at a discussion yesterday said militant organisations are scheming against Bangladesh and India to avenge the defeat in 1971.

This has created a security threat in the South Asian region, they said.

They mentioned that the government and citizens of Bangladesh have to be united to fight against the militant groups.

Pro-Liberation War platform Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, with support of Bangladesh-India Friendship Society, organised the discussion at the capital's Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, marking the 13th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, says a press release.

The discussion was part of the inauguration of a three-day photography and film exhibition.

The speakers said militants supported by Pakistan carried out an unprecedented terror attack on Taj Hotel in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in which citizens of 22 countries including Indians were killed.

They further said several killings and criminal attacks took place during the tenure of BNP and Jamaat government, which included the grenade attack on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, on August 21, 2004.

Addressing the discussion as chief guest, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said like India, Bangladesh also came under militant attacks on multiple occasions.

He alleged during BNP's tenure after 2001, militants were harboured in the country. Gradually, they started to take action to erase Bangladesh's history, tradition and culture.

However, after assuming power in 2009, Sheikh Hasina eliminated them with strong hands, he further said.

Addressing the event as special guest, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami said during the Mumbai attack, some Pakistani terrorists equipped with firearms brutally killed Indians and foreign citizens.

By carrying out such an attack, they wanted to destroy peace and harmony and establish terrorism in South Asia including India, he said.

Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir said Pakistan should be labelled as a "terror state", adding its "policy to export militancy and fundamentalism" has been a threat to security across the globe.

Former justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and security analyst Maj Gen (rtd) Abdur Rashid, among others, spoke at the discussion.