Political parties condemn Gulshan terror attack

Different political parties and organisations yesterday condemned the heinous attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone of Gulshan on Friday night.

Condemning the terror attack, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia called on the government to initiate an all-party effort to crush the 'extremist forces.'

In a statement, she thanked the security forces for neutralising the attack, the first of its kind in Bangladesh where foreigners were held hostage.

Khaleda described the murderous attack by gunmen at the Gulshan eatery as 'blind violence and animal cruelty.'

She put the blame on the government of not responding to her party's urge to wipe out the extremists and alleged that the government had rather strengthened the hands of the militants being remained silent and inactive to take severe actions against them.

“We have repeatedly urged the government to take steps beyond their partisan stance to fight against the militants' inhuman terrorism. But the government rejected our urge and remained busy to blame the opposition parties including BNP,” the statement reads.

Khaleda also condemned the recently concluded crackdown across the country and alleged that the government failed to detain militants and rather arrested BNP men and common people.

Expressing concern over the recent killings of the Hindus, she alleged that the militants have established their dens due to “dictatorship” and lack of rule of law in the country.

She also expressed her deep shock over the tragic deaths of Bangladeshis and foreigners in the attack and praised the role of the law enforcers to accomplish the operation.

The BNP chief strongly urged the government to reinforce security of the people and diplomats. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also condemned the attack.

Awami League General Secretary and Minister for Public Administration Syed Ashraful Islam said evil forces involved in the militant attacks would not be spared.

Syed Ashraf mentioned this in his personal account on Facebook. He posted the status at 5:30am from London where he has been on a personal tour.

In his post, Syed Ashraf said, "Bangladesh is ours and we are Bangladesh. No evil force will be spared. Kindly have patience. Refrain from spreading rumours.

"Many persons are trying to get a chance. Don't believe in any sort of claim. We are not sitting idle. We are working… Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu."

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad in a statement expressed deep concern and said there is no scope to consider the spread of extreme terrorism as a small issue.

Such a massive, desperate and pre-planned terrorist attack was the first ever witnessed in the history of Bangladesh, he said, adding that at the same time the incidents of killing priests of religious minority community is continuously taking place.

“Such incidents are putting our existence at risk,” Ershad noted.

He urged the government to hold an all-party meeting to tackle the terrorism.

Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh President Prof Badruddoza Chowdhury and General Secretary Maj (retd) Abdul Mannan in a statement strongly condemned the terrorist attack.

They demanded that the authorities concerned immediately identify the culprits involved in the incident and punish them.

Besides, the Nationalist Democratic Front (NDF-Nilu), Samajtantrik Majdur Party, Bangladesh Islamic Party, Nagorik Parishad, Bangladesh Trade Union and some other organisations also condemned the attack.

Seven gunmen barged into the Holey Artisan Bakery at Gulshan around 8:45 on Friday night and held the guests hostage. The hostage standoff ended almost 12 hours later after army commandos initiated 'Operation Thunderbolt' on Saturday morning to free the hostages.