One month of the Gulshan tragedy

A month into the Gulshan tragedy, and we can say that some progress has been made but much remains to be done. The perpetrators of the Gulshan attack have been killed, in Sholakia we have successfully thwarted the terrorists, and in Kalyanpur we have busted their hideout. 

However, we are still in the dark as to the masterminds of the outfit. Also we are ignorant about their recruitment process or the motivating factors that have prompted these youths to join the ranks of the extremists, suggesting that the matter might not be under complete control. 

A redeeming feature, however, is that the government has sprung into action and the nation has also been gravitated in the singular direction of combating the menace. For the government it is better late than never as it has moved on from a rather inflexible stance, which was manifested in the denial mode. It is regrettable that it had to take the lives of so many people for the government to open up to the reality. 

At this stage we have the impression that there exists an incoherent if not random approach to countering the extremists at the policymaking level, causing the fear factor in the minds of the people to persist. To assuage the sense of uncertainty, we believe that the government needs to formulate a coherent strategy, and, more importantly, a centralised command needs to be set up. The order must stem from one particular point, reflecting a deliberate thought process factiorising all aspects so that the operational orders are unambiguous. 

A unified entity directing operations and intelligence is indeed the order of the day.