The attack in Bangladesh on the newly appointed British high commissioner during a visit to a Sylhet mosque must arouse suspicions that Al-Qaeda has opened a new front in its war of terror.
There is little doubt that the High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury was the target, since the bomb — which was thrown from the crowd as he left the building — actually hit him in the stomach, but did not explode until it had rolled some distance away. As a result the official was only slightly injured, but two people died and dozens were injured. If this is indeed Al-Qaeda or one of its cadet organizations, it is bad news for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is used to living on the brink of disaster. From the north the rivers Ganges, Jamuna and Meghna bring often devastating floods exacerbated by serious deforestation far away in their main catchments. From the south come violent seasonal cyclones which ravage much of this low-lying region — one of them killed nine people on the day of the blast. Politically, the country is divided between the two bitter poles of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. These are challenges enough.
Extremists have certainly been at work for some time in Bangladesh, and one of the focuses of their attacks has been the 700-year-old Hazrat Shah Jalal shrine in Sylhet. Another blast at the shrine this January killed three people. Twelve months ago, seven people were blown to pieces in an attack at another shrine. There have also been bombings at cinemas and a concert.
Though it is clear that a representative of the British government was supposed to be the victim of yesterday’s outrage, the method of attack, tossing some sort of a grenade, does not fit with Al-Qaeda’s usual modus operandi, which is the car bomb or the suicide bomber. That the man who threw the device yesterday was able to escape into the crowd demonstrates the extent of the problems facing the authorities. Sylhet was crowded with pilgrims from all over the country and further afield. A stranger with a deadly purpose concealing himself among other strangers has a good chance of escaping detection in the panic and chaos that follows his attack.
No doubt the British and their American friends will be demanding a role in the investigation that must now follow. While the Bangladesh government may welcome the technology and resources that such an intervention would bring, it is important that it makes clear that such assistance remains purely technical. The sovereignty of Bangladesh must be respected. The Muslim world has learned in Iraq what it means when Washington and London take a proactive lead in the war against terror — they simply make a bad situation worse.
