Eminent economist and researcher Anu Muhammad has stated that the remarks of Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury regarding the Khagrachhari incident echo the familiar tone of the ousted Awami League government.
He made these comments while addressing a discussion titled “The Chronology of Communal Violence: 13 Years since the Attacks and Destruction of Buddhist Temples in Ramu and Across the Country, and Communal Violence in Post-Mass Uprising Bangladesh,” held at the Shafiqul Kabir Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Monday.
He compared the home adviser’s remarks to the statement given by the Awami League home minister following the communal attack in Ramu in 2012.
Anu Muhammad said, “The same tone and the same model are still influencing political decorum. There are certain powerful groups behind this who are trying to agitate the public into becoming instruments of mob terror.”
He said that the home adviser had remarked that India or fascists might be behind the unstable situation in Khagrachhari. “But his comments have a hint of the Awami League in them,” he added, “reflecting their old mould and model.”
He further said, “When the attack occurred in Ramu in 2012, the Awami League government claimed that the Ramu attack was part of a conspiracy by the BNP and Jamaat to sabotage the war crimes trial, only for it to later be proven that Awami League leaders and activists themselves were involved in the attack.”
Anu Muhammad said, “Currently, the people of the hill areas do not want secession, but rather, democratic rights. But it is absolutely clear that the government, along with all concerned, must fulfill their responsibilities in the hills. Until the government reveals who is currently occupying CHT land and what sort of activities are being carried out there, it will not be possible to understand the real situation.”
In the discussion, he further said, “To stop communal violence, on one hand, it is necessary to build unity against ideological forces that increase discrimination in society, and it is necessary to adopt strong plans against mob terror.”
“The invisible activities of institutions and the government, economic corruption, and increasing discrimination are the root causes of this situation,” he added.
Also present at the discussion were Dhaka University Professor Samina Lutfa, Supreme Court Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua, CPB General Secretary Abdullah Kafi Ratan, economist and writer Sujit Chowdhury, artist and researcher Arup Rahi, along with several other distinguished speakers.
