Opinion: Dhaka militant den raid gives us confidence

Kalyanpur gives us confidence.

After what we have been experiencing in the past few months – militants freely attacking and killing people one after another – a deep sense of insecurity had seeped into the society.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's quick statement that the country averted a catastrophe by busting this den of terrorists is a pointer. This is why the sudden and successful eradication of the militant den in Kalyanpur in the early hours of today was so assuring. It surely proved a few things.

First, there is no alternative to effective intelligence gathering to fight terrorism and that the people should be taken along in this task. The government should invest heavily in intelligence. It already has a lot of weapons in its armory- it has laws that enable the agencies to snoop on what the private citizens are doing. That should be applied properly and in the right direction.

It also proves that there is no scope for complacence. Because of the geopolitical situation, militants nowadays seem to be active on their Jihadi path, constantly conspiring to destabilize nations. The Kalyanpur militants are merely an obvious corroboration to that effect.

After the Gulshan café attack, security has been tightened and a lot of agencies are working to flush out the militants. Amidst that, these militants had been digging and drilling a dark tunnel leading to some big terrorist acts. The prime minister herself had said the other day that she expected more attacks apprehending that some educational institutions might just be the next target.

And with the unfolding of the latest event shows the militants are not scared by the heightening of security. So surveillance will be a key to fighting them. Such successful operations will also break the morale of the militants. Many would shun the path of destruction.

However, many would harden as well and become even more elusive. So our law enforcers will also have to be more effective and stay one step ahead of the Jihadists.

We believe busting more such militant dens would bring even more sense of security for the people who are already panicky. Restaurants and shopping malls find thin crowd because people are scared to go to public places. This is not good for economy.

So the vigil must be enhanced to bring Bangladesh to its old form. Kalyanpur operation is a sure way to that direction.