| Introduction
Over the last five years, secular organizations,
cultural activities, movie theaters, minority religious
sites, certain shrines symbolizing the moderate
Sufi brand of Islam and liberal politicians have
been attacked in a lethal bombing campaign in Bangladesh.
Opposition political activities are under constant
fear of attack, and opposition politicians are afraid
of their lives, making a healthy practice of democratic
norms and values more and more difficult by the
day. Bengali cultural festivities with hundreds
of years' tradition are security nightmares now
for fear of another bombing.
Non governmental organizations, (NGOs) which changed
the face of rural Bangladesh by giving the hitherto
marginalized groups of society, particularly women,
a new identity and source of financial self-reliance,
also came under attack, forcing them to curtail
their open activities, often significantly.
An analysis of the targets, the victims, the modus
operandi, and the facts unearthed by official investigation
in the few cases that it has succeeded in doing
so, suggests that the vast majority of these attacks
implicate the extreme conservative religious forces
in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh has
issued statements blaming Islamic extremists for
some of the attacks, and sometimes successfully
pursued the perpetrators. But non-partisan observers
of the concerned citizenry have found the measures
taken by the Government of Bangladesh to try those
responsible for these cowardly activities and efforts
to put an end to this ominous series of events quite
inadequate, often insincere, and in cases where
steps were undertaken, that it was done so as a
face saving political ploy.
On the other hand, the major and mainstream opposition
political entity in Bangladesh has resorted to counterproductive
hartals, violent protests and street anarchy to
protest this bombing campaign. While this has in
some cases captured the anger and frustration of
the people, it has consistently failed to maintain
a sustained response amongst people because of its
display of misplaced priorities, placing ad-hoc
blame on the government, and bringing unwarranted
suffering to the people and economy of Bangladesh
through its activities.
Uttorshuri,
an internet forum for Bangla speaking people from all over
the world with technical help from Human rights
organization, Drishtipat,
has taken the initiative of this website as a means
of a constructive protest and to fulfill the need
for documenting important historical events pertaining
to Bangladesh . We all know that fact and truth
about the events are one of the victims also; they
soon fade from our collective conscience. In this
context, we host this website to chronicle the bombing
campaign that has been plaguing Bangladesh; follow
up the investigations and legal proceedings involving
these crimes and monitor the activities of the government
of Bangladesh in dealing with this bombing campaign.
At the same time, this webpage will serve
as the hub to connect the citizens of Bangladesh
who are concerned at these ominous developments.
As we grieve for each loss of life to this mindless
violence, we must also condemn these terror attacks
in the strongest possible language. Uttorshuri forum
urges all of you to post your comments; express
the concerns and share the thoughts as we unite
as Bangladeshis to fight these blood-thirsty extremists/terrorists
who, by any measure of patriotism, are enemies of
our state.
FAQs
1.
Why this website? What we want to accomplish?
2.
Isn't it going to harm the image of Bangladesh?
3.
Who we are?
4.
Why it is not anti-state to talk about a policy
failure?
5.
Does talking about one's country's own problems
destroy the image of the country?
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