'Lack of serious probe after blogger death encouraged Gulshan attack'

Leader of the Opposition Raushon Ershad has said half-hearted probes into the murder of bloggers encouraged the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks.

“When bloggers were killed, we did not investigate deep enough. We did not go for the root. We did not go to the depths. We only saw the surface,” she said on Tuesday.

The Jatiya Party senior co-chairman’s remarks came while speaking on a censure motion in Parliament, condemning the recent spate of terror attacks around the world, including the ones in Bangladesh.

After last year’s murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy, several free thinkers, bloggers and online activists had fallen to terror strikes.

Although police claimed the hand of terrorists behind the murders, very few of the culprits or the planners were arrested.

On July 1, 22 people, including 17 foreigners, three Bangladeshis and two police officers, were killed in a brazen attack on a cafe in the capital’s diplomatic corridors of Gulshan.

Within a week, another attack was mounted on a police check-post near the Sholakia Eidgah ground in Kishoreganj, minutes before the main Eid prayers, which led to the death of two policemen.

Referring to the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, Raushon said they were not the outcome of a day but of several problems piled up over time.

“Have we been able to provide peace to the people?” she asked.

She said lack of job opportunity drives frustrated youngsters to the path of violence. She tore into the government, claiming that job opportunities created by the state benefited only those from or close to the ruling Awami League.
Alluding to the fact that some of the attackers were from various private universities of the country, she said, “It has to be investigated what is being taught in the universities.”

Stressing that the attacks had scared away many foreigners, Raushon said, “Two families have left the country from the area where I come from,” and added that the faith of the foreign nationals must be restored.

She also expressed concern about the safety of opposition MPs.

“Police are deployed for the protection of ministers. What is given to the MPs? We have six guards. Two come at a time.”

“Protection is left to Allah,” the opposition leader said.

Source: bdnews24