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The Brussels carnage of 34 innocent civilians committed apparently by the jihadists has triggered global outrage. Millions of people belonging to different religious faiths have joined hands in condemning the blasts that wreaked havoc in metro train as well as airport in the Belgian capital during busy hours last Tuesday. Bangladesh shares the grief of the grieving families of the victims and joins worldwide condemnation against terror tactics adopted by a few misguided forces all in the name of the great religion of peace, Islam. The hell was reportedly broken loose days after a suspected terrorist linked to last year's Paris blasts was arrested in Brussels.
The jihadist group, Islamic State (IS), has claimed the responsibility for bloody attacks in Brussels. Observers say the targets of the jihadists are among the most sensitive ones in Europe. Brussels is home to the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), international agencies and companies, as well as Belgium's own government. Brussels has now become a high-profile target for Islamists, though other west European capitals remain also vulnerable to such attacks. Belgium has particularly struggled with extremist Islamist groups for years and hundreds of its citizens have been lured into fighting for the IS in Syria and Iraq. Several cities in Belgium, as the reports said, have housed Islamist cells, but the most active ones have been in Brussels and in the south-western suburb of Molenbeek in particular - an area with a high ethnic Moroccan population. Several of the bombers and gunmen who targeted Paris last November, killing 130 people, had been living in Molenbeek. The main suspect who did not die in the Paris attacks returned to Belgium afterwards and managed to evade police until March 18. He and an accomplice were captured alive, again in Molenbeek. Many Belgians had been expecting an awesome response from jihadists.
It is really not understandable what bloodbath, caused by a few terrorists, can do to help espouse the cause of what the IS stands for. It is also surprising that irrational beliefs by a few obscurantist elements are still being attempted to be thrust upon the peace-loving people through terror tactics. The perpetrators of terror have simply ignored the fact that none can be won over by force. One can silence men or women by shooting indiscriminately or blasting bombs for the time being but no sustainable goal can ever be achieved by the bloody tactics that are simply insane.
Just think of what the Taliban had done in Afghanistan or what the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen (JMB) did in Bangladesh. Could they advance an inch in achieving their targets? No, they still sit where they stood. They have failed to change the firm beliefs of common people. What could the Taliban do to impose their beliefs on the peace-loving Afghan nation by demolishing rare Buddha statues or keeping women illiterate by forcing them to stay within four walls of their houses?
What could the JMB do in Bangladesh? It evoked only utter contempt of all, irrespective of religious faiths in the country when it triggered serial bomb blasts in 63 districts out of 64 on August 17, 2005. On that day, more than 300 explosions took place simultaneously in 50 cities and towns including the capital Dhaka. Common people thronging court premises were seen throwing stones or shoes at the JMB accused when they were produced in courts. The majority of Bangladeshis are surely Muslims but not 'fundamentalists' or 'fanatics' as the jihadists would love to call them.
The continuous spontaneous reactions of common Muslims or people of other faiths in countries that are now battling such dark forces of violence in the name of religion, are simply manifestation of their unequivocal condemnation of such 'terrorist' actions.