If I am asked about the different dimensions added to the studies of twenty first century terrorism then I would refer to the latest inclusion of terrorism into the study of Disaster Management. In many Universities of western world now terrorism is studied giving equal importance as much as given to the other disasters like earthquake, typhoon, flood, drought etc, but why? Because terrorism successfully emerged as a real catastrophic threat to the progress of human development. Terrorism is a man made disaster. Though ironically it is true that scholars are yet to define terrorism properly but concept like counter-terrorism has already emerged. Counter-terrorism involves those offensive measures taken to prevent, deter and respond to terrorism. Bangladesh also entered into that phase with some limited developments. Thanks go to European Union for their recent initiatives taken to build a regional counter-terrorism centre here in Dhaka. The regional Counter-Terrorism Centre will be set up in with financial and technological assistance from European Union to train people across South Asia to combat terrorism. The international standard centre will start functioning by early next year. Renowned counter-terrorism experts from European countries, United States and Canada will train investigators, police and intelligence agency personnel to fight terrorism. The centre will be the second in its type and the first one was established in Indonesia (National Anti-terrorism Agency (BNPT) way back in August this year. Now let us see the implications of BNPT typed centre in Dhaka in the present context of Bangladesh and why not other countries like India and Pakistan were not chosen as a host country.
Context of Bangladesh
While discussing about the development of terrorism and effort for counter-terrorism of Bangladesh none can escape the context of South Asia where these are so much interrelated and interconnected. In South Asia we have had our homegrown terrorists for quite some time. The authorities in these countries have sometimes claimed that terrorist activities taking place in their respective territories have been made possible through active support and planning originating in neighboring country. After Mumbai carnage in 2008 the Indian government blamed mainly Pakistan and partially Bangladesh for harboring terrorists involved behind the attack. After all these bloody experiences the countries are yet to come in a consensus to counter terrorism with hand in hand rather they are maintaining a blame game situation with each other. In the last two SAARC summits (last one was in 2010) member countries couldn't reach at a concrete decision to establish a regional counterterrorism task force. Bangladesh has always been firm in its stated principles about combating terrorism. For last two years there have been significant developments in Bangladesh as per as combating terrorism is concerned. The present government passed the law for combating terrorism in 2009 and in the year of 2010 during Hasina's visit to New Delhi Bangladesh signed an accord where third agreement was 'on Combating International Terrorism, Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking fight against terrorism'. But in the aspect of counter terrorism there is little development. During February 2009 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her new government sent out an unambiguous political message to South Asian leaders and beyond to create a 'South Asian Task Force on Counter-terrorism'. But the proposal couldn't find the light because of various realities. Bangladesh cannot afford to establish a national counter-terrorism task force or centre so far. However, in our neighborly country India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had his staff prepare a roadmap to “overhaul and modernize” internal security mechanisms, the key element of which was the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) like in most developed countries. This initiative was taken in May 2009 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. It took thirty six months for the US to set up a counter-terrorism centre since 9/11 accident but India responded earlier than the US as per as the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008 is concerned. Pakistan has there own National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) since 2009. But what about Bangladesh if we consider 2005 country wide bomb blast by JMB as a biggest terrorist attack against Bangladesh's national security?
EU's Initiatives and Bangladesh
Regional counter terrorism centre is going to be a pioneering initiative taken by EU for Bangladesh. Since the attacks in New York, London and Madrid, the EU's counter-terrorism strategy has become a separate policy in all the EU's institutions. They are attempting to achieve this through prevention, protection, pursuit and response measures. EU's counter-terrorism now plays a central role in the European Security and Defense Policy. South Asian countries like India and Pakistan agreed with the EU plan to set up the counter-terrorism centre in Bangladesh, which will be the second after the first one in Indonesia. Both India and Pakistan have their own national counterterrorism agency on the other hand Bangladesh yet to experience such centre. Second thing, in the recent past Bangladesh successfully combated terrorism; hanged all terrorist kingpins and now have shrunk its activities into some scattered areas with rare possibility to reemerge. Offer of setting up a centre from EU might have come as a prize for these successes and Bangladesh's perpetual commitment to fight against terrorism.
Some Observations
Setting up of a centre for countering terrorism may not be a decisive solution. There are lot of pros and cons on the success and activities of counter-terrorism centers existing around the world. In Indonesia civil society welcomed BNPT with praise but later they were disillusioned with its activities. Much of the objection from civil society groups over the formation of the BNPT was because of fears that the agency was seen to had too much power. Another argument over the BNPT was generated from the failure of the decree to draw clear lines on how the agency was involved in taking measures on the man-hunt of terrorists. This was a critical point since the BNPT was not a law enforcement body. On the aspect of setting up a counter-terrorism centre in Bangladesh the concerned authorities need to look upon these matters. It is important for the future centre to establish complete and detailed rules and operational guidelines for all member units of the agency to prevent potential overlap or breach of laws and responsibilities. Any unclear regulation could lead to legal violations and possible human rights violations by the centre members, units or personnel. Failure to build suitable strategies for the upcoming centre will be counterproductive -- the centre may not get a chance to realize its full potential if no firm plans or strategies are in place.
Context of Bangladesh
While discussing about the development of terrorism and effort for counter-terrorism of Bangladesh none can escape the context of South Asia where these are so much interrelated and interconnected. In South Asia we have had our homegrown terrorists for quite some time. The authorities in these countries have sometimes claimed that terrorist activities taking place in their respective territories have been made possible through active support and planning originating in neighboring country. After Mumbai carnage in 2008 the Indian government blamed mainly Pakistan and partially Bangladesh for harboring terrorists involved behind the attack. After all these bloody experiences the countries are yet to come in a consensus to counter terrorism with hand in hand rather they are maintaining a blame game situation with each other. In the last two SAARC summits (last one was in 2010) member countries couldn't reach at a concrete decision to establish a regional counterterrorism task force. Bangladesh has always been firm in its stated principles about combating terrorism. For last two years there have been significant developments in Bangladesh as per as combating terrorism is concerned. The present government passed the law for combating terrorism in 2009 and in the year of 2010 during Hasina's visit to New Delhi Bangladesh signed an accord where third agreement was 'on Combating International Terrorism, Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking fight against terrorism'. But in the aspect of counter terrorism there is little development. During February 2009 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her new government sent out an unambiguous political message to South Asian leaders and beyond to create a 'South Asian Task Force on Counter-terrorism'. But the proposal couldn't find the light because of various realities. Bangladesh cannot afford to establish a national counter-terrorism task force or centre so far. However, in our neighborly country India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had his staff prepare a roadmap to “overhaul and modernize” internal security mechanisms, the key element of which was the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) like in most developed countries. This initiative was taken in May 2009 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. It took thirty six months for the US to set up a counter-terrorism centre since 9/11 accident but India responded earlier than the US as per as the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008 is concerned. Pakistan has there own National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) since 2009. But what about Bangladesh if we consider 2005 country wide bomb blast by JMB as a biggest terrorist attack against Bangladesh's national security?
EU's Initiatives and Bangladesh
Regional counter terrorism centre is going to be a pioneering initiative taken by EU for Bangladesh. Since the attacks in New York, London and Madrid, the EU's counter-terrorism strategy has become a separate policy in all the EU's institutions. They are attempting to achieve this through prevention, protection, pursuit and response measures. EU's counter-terrorism now plays a central role in the European Security and Defense Policy. South Asian countries like India and Pakistan agreed with the EU plan to set up the counter-terrorism centre in Bangladesh, which will be the second after the first one in Indonesia. Both India and Pakistan have their own national counterterrorism agency on the other hand Bangladesh yet to experience such centre. Second thing, in the recent past Bangladesh successfully combated terrorism; hanged all terrorist kingpins and now have shrunk its activities into some scattered areas with rare possibility to reemerge. Offer of setting up a centre from EU might have come as a prize for these successes and Bangladesh's perpetual commitment to fight against terrorism.
Some Observations
Setting up of a centre for countering terrorism may not be a decisive solution. There are lot of pros and cons on the success and activities of counter-terrorism centers existing around the world. In Indonesia civil society welcomed BNPT with praise but later they were disillusioned with its activities. Much of the objection from civil society groups over the formation of the BNPT was because of fears that the agency was seen to had too much power. Another argument over the BNPT was generated from the failure of the decree to draw clear lines on how the agency was involved in taking measures on the man-hunt of terrorists. This was a critical point since the BNPT was not a law enforcement body. On the aspect of setting up a counter-terrorism centre in Bangladesh the concerned authorities need to look upon these matters. It is important for the future centre to establish complete and detailed rules and operational guidelines for all member units of the agency to prevent potential overlap or breach of laws and responsibilities. Any unclear regulation could lead to legal violations and possible human rights violations by the centre members, units or personnel. Failure to build suitable strategies for the upcoming centre will be counterproductive -- the centre may not get a chance to realize its full potential if no firm plans or strategies are in place.
This article was appeared in the Daily Star on 6th November 2010.
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