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Bangladesh bombed

THE most striking aspect of the serial blasts that rocked Bangladesh on Wednesday was their decidedly limited nature and low intensity. Nearly 350 bombs that went off in 50 different towns across the country only killed two people besides lightly injuring dozens of others. Evidently the idea was not to kill on a large scale or inflict maximum damage on civilian targets but to generate fear in easily the most peaceful country of the subcontinent.

Whoever is behind these acts of terror clearly wants to send the message to the Bangla government and people that their long years of peace and relative political stability are over. But it would be premature to conclude that global terror networks have finally turned their attention to Bangladesh. These blasts do not bear the characteristic stamp of Al Qaeda or Bin Laden.

Nevertheless, the Bangla authorities cannot afford to be complacent. The troublemakers, whoever they are, must be found and brought to justice sooner than later. This home grown (?) terror must be nipped in the bud before it assumes proportions of a major national crisis. A country like Bangladesh that fights yearly battles with natural forces and severe economic hardship — half of its population lives on less than one dollar a day —can hardly afford yet another battle front against terror.