On the night of July 1, 2016, Bangladesh witnessed one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan-2, Dhaka. Five young men, armed and radicalized, brutally murdered 20 innocent people, most of whom were foreign nationals. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) and later linked to Neo-JMB, a domestic militant outfit, as confirmed by intelligence reports.
Yet today, on the anniversary of that horrific night, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sheikh Md. Sajjat Ali, has stunned the nation with his remarks:
“There are no militants in Bangladesh. Only muggers.”
This isn’t just insensitive—it reflects a dangerous indifference to national security, and exposes a politically motivated attempt to downplay reality.
Under the rule of the so-called “New Bangladesh” government, even the very definition of militancy has been distorted.
• Those who fought against Bangladesh in 1971 are now being portrayed as “defenders of the nation.”
• Meanwhile, freedom fighters who took up arms for liberation are being labeled as “militants.”
This isn’t just historical distortion—it’s part of a deliberate anti-state conspiracy.
Groups like ISIS, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and JMB, once officially banned, are now openly marching under police protection.
Even the former chief of the Police Counter-Terrorism Unit admitted:
“The seeds of militancy still exist.”
Yet today, we’re told:
“There’s no militancy. Nothing to worry about.”
Pakistan made the mistake of sheltering militants under state protection for decades—and today, it’s paying the price as a victim of its own extremist monsters.
Is Bangladesh now following that same path?
The government led by Dr. Yunus, and his loyal bureaucrats, are denying the threat of militancy, choosing instead a form of political suicide. In their attempt to erase the threat from state records, they’re not just erasing history—they’re endangering the future.
The Holey Artisan attack was never an isolated incident.
It was a clear warning that international terrorism had its sights set on Bangladesh.
And those who now deny the presence of militants are either dangerously ignorant, or knowingly complicit in an anti-state agenda.
Bangladesh is not Pakistan.
There is no room for terrorism in the name of religion.
And the people of this country know that truth.
So ask yourself:
Is the state slipping back into the darkness?
Or is this a carefully orchestrated deception?
We will not forget history.
We will not forget Holey Artisan.
We will not forget a single drop of blood shed that night.
Because every drop reminds us:
Saying “there are no militants” is the same as nurturing militancy.
Silence is complicity. And we will not be silent.
