The February-27 attack on the celebrated writer-intellectual and renowned Professor Humayun Azad of Dhaka University has terribly shocked the entire nation. There have been an overwhelming outpouring of surprise, anger, frustration and protests from Bangladeshi people from both home and abroad. There has however been a clearly visible and interesting development: the news-media have, all on a sudden, gone berserk in taking freedom to express anger against the Government and its allied Islamists, who purportedly are behind this heinous, like never before. It is obvious that this horrendous incident has created tremendous interest, curiosity and consciousness amongst peace-loving majority of our people. We must consider many recent incidences including multiple armed encounters of security forces with armed Islamic militia, a series of bombing in cultural gatherings and movie theatres (considered anti-Islamic) over the last few years, killing of an Ahmedia Imam in Khulna demanding ban on their religious belief attacking their mosques by Jamaat-style intolerant Sunni Islamists, killing of Hindu and Buddhist priests, threatening a  number of minority individuals or groups to convert to Islam or face violent consequences plus continued oppression on minority population. There is a hit-list of secular intellectuals (Prof. Azad was on it) in circulation by the unknown Islamists, already a number of attempts on the life of multiple secular intellectuals including Poet Shamsur Rahman Prof. Azad and of course, there has always been a threat on the life of secularists like Dr. Humayun Azad, Dr. Ali Asgar, Prof. Kabir Chawdhury, Prof. Ahmed Sharriff and others. If taken these incidences together with this barbaric assault on Dr. Azad, it is obvious that 'a very sinister and potentially devastating force' has taken firm root on our soil. Since entire peace-loving people of the country have now woken up to this menace, it has become an ideal opportunity and platform for a serious soul-searching as to how we got into this mess? How did this 'monstrous force' take root in our other-wise peaceful nation? How big is this monster? Who are to blame for this potentially disastrous development? Have the responsible bodies like the news-media, the intellectuals and the Government done their job honestly and effectively to make the nation aware of sinister development? What should be the action-plan to counter and extirpate this monster if feasible?

It is important to consider how we got into this dangerous situation! Did we get any forewarning? If not, why? Of course, what we are facing today did not grow in front of our very eyes. But we are an impotent nation because we ourselves were never able to see this demon was growing fast on our soil. Still, it is shameful but fortunate for us that the emergence of this cancerous growth was pointed to us by a foreign journalist. Have we forgotten that gentleman "Bartyl Linter" of Far East Economic Review (FEER)? Of course, we cannot forget this name, the one-time greatest enemy of our nation: the Government (BNP-Jamaat), the common people and the intellectuals and news-media were all going after his life when he published his report in FEER on Bangladesh. This honest and foresighted man pointed to this growing epidemic with absolute precision but we not only did turn our eyes away but also asked for his blood. Are our intelligentsia (expect a few countable ones), the media and the Government going to regret their failure as well as their uncivilized behavior in the aftermath of FEER report? We did not stop short of taking FEER to court. Shame on our Government, the news-media and the intellectuals - they not only failed to recognize the emergence of this poisonous force but also rejected it vigorously, even when Mr. Linter pointed it to us. When a decisive investigation and preventive actions were required to safe-guard the future of the country, entire nation went berserk after the blood of Mr. Linter and we ended up into this difficult situation today. This is an absolute disgrace for our whole nation.

I can recall those hundreds of pathetic assessments and reactions by our Government and the intelligentsia, including all media pundits desperately seeking to rubbish Bartyl Linter's report some two years ago. No single news-agency in the country made any forceful plea to the Government to launch credible investigation - the entire news-media completely failed in rendering its duty, so did our thoroughly irresponsible and uncivilized Government.

It is clearly evident, although not official, that the Jamaat and/or its allied Islamist forces are behind this barbaric assault on Prof. Azad and behind other similar attacks. This attack on Dr. Azad has every hallmark of Jamaat's heinous activities during our Freedom Struggle in 1971 and their brutal activities in the various University campuses now-a-days. No one should disagree to the assertion that if Jamaat were to successfully execute their vicious agenda on our soil, the secular humanist intellectuals will be their biggest obstacles. Dr. Humayun Azad's latest book "Pak Sar Zameen Saad Baad" is already a huge blow to their mission. There have also been open threats to Dr. Azad from Jamaat leaders alongside life-threatening letters and phone calls from unknown forces after his book was published. And given the way Jamaat normally deal with their opponents, there is hardly any doubt that none other than the Jamaat thugs must have unleashed this brutal assault on Dr. Azad's life a la 1971-style intellectual killings. Heaping the blame quickly on the opposition by the Prime minister and other BNP leaders even before initiating an investigation clearly suggests that the Government is not interested in pursuing the real perpetrators. There are a number reasons because of which BNP Government will not go after the culprits. Firstly, the purported culprits are the major force in Khaleda Zia's coalition Government and a crucial electoral ally. Secondly, the BNP thrives on exploiting the religious sentiments (such as, voting BNP a passport to Paradise) of the majority Muslim population and if they go after these Islamic fanatics, it will be difficult for BNP to exploit the religious sentiments of the people in next election.

However, the peace-loving people of the country have to realize that unless decisive actions are taken to stem the growth of these evil forces, the nation is bound to face a disaster in near future. The truth of the matter is that the message of Jamaat religious propaganda has spread to all corners of the country which seems to have been able to influence people's psychic and sentiments quite successfully. Our tradition of being a religiously tolerant, peace-loving and moderate nation does not hold true any more - our People are definitely much less tolerant about critical and rational analysis of religious matters than we used to be, a couple of decades ago. The incidences cited earlier and the continued oppression of our religious and ethnic minority people etc. clearly attest to this assertion. Also we did witness a sea of people engulfing the Dhaka metropolis about three years ago for the blood of two judges who were labeled Murtaads for seeking to ban unauthorized and illiterate village Mullahs from issuing cruel Islamic Fatawas.

The BNP and AL Governments' miserable failures to maintain law and order repeatedly, to contain unfettered corruption and to improve people's living, along with unbridled exploitation of religious sentiments by various political parties and groups, are be the main contributing factors in this remarkable tilt in people's attitude towards the Jamaat's Islamic propaganda. Although both BNP and AL governments have failed to deliver any good to the people, all responsible citizens of the country must realize that the rise of Jamaat to the power will spell grave disaster for our nation. Given Jamaat's inhuman and cruel activities in 1971 and its student wing's middle-age-style barbaric activities in our educational campuses, it is obvious that they will impose a very cruel and repressive regime styled after the brutal Taliban, Saudi or Iranian Islamists on our people. The concept of democracy will be abolished, our civil liberty will be destroyed, the out-dated and often cruel Islamic Sharia Law will be introduced and the secular humanist intellectuals will be exterminated. Our education system including science and philosophy will be badly affected and the womenfolk are likely to be banned from going to school and work. Our rich cultural heritage including arts, music, cinema etc. will be banned. With our limited natural resources, unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia which have huge oil reserves and with likely isolation from outside world, our nation is bound to suffer serious economic disaster like Afghanistan under the brutal Taliban regime. Of course, hundreds of thousands of lives, including the liberal intellectuals, will be at risk given the way the illiterate Mullah regime of Khomeini brutally killed a great number of people, including educated intellectuals, opposed or suspected to be opposed to the Mullah rulers. This is bound to lead our nation to sheer intellectual bankruptcy.

There is no doubt that our nation cannot afford to let an Islamist Jamaati regime to rise to the governing machinery, which will spell absolute disaster for the nation and civil society. It is important to stop the rapidly-growing intolerant religious bigotry amongst ordinary citizens of the country. Jamaat and its Islamist allies are growing in strength and gaining wider acceptance amongst the people everyday. In order to contain this growing fanatic syndrome, a well-planned counter-revolution must be launched as soon as possible. A counter-revolution need not be a wide-scale armed resistance but it has to be a long-term educational one. We need a directed educational propaganda campaign for tolerance, equality, human rights and justice to all citizens, irrespective of religious or ethnic origin. And it has to start at the school as well as at the mass population level. It is a pity that our education curriculum hardly teaches us to be tolerant, friendly and respectful to all, regardless of religion, ethnic groups or social classes. However, non-harmonious and hateful religious teachings are taught openly by Islamic teachers and preachers in Madrasas and religious congregations (Waaj Mahfeels). It is not only about religious/racial intolerance, our education system also teaches us very little respect for human rights dignity, justice and freedom of individual opinion etc. Hence, it is very easy for us to slap that little boy serving you tea in a restaurant for minor or no faults; it is very easy for our young students and political cadres to shoot and brutally chop their opponents in educational campuses and elsewhere. Mass rapes of helpless women, often from religious and ethnic minority groups, are daily incidences. Our respect for human values is very poor which is clearly evident in the way we treat people of lower social classes such as our maids, servants, rickshaw pullers etc.

I think we have a mammoth task in hand if we seek to save our future. In our country, political thuggery rules the roost at all levels and religious sentiments are being increasingly exploited in ugly manners to buy votes even by the two major so-called secular parties, namely BNP and AL. In fact, Jamaat is BNP's electoral ally and the current BNP-led Government has a number of Jamaat ministers. AL had also allied with Jamaat in a street-campaign for ousting the BNP Government in 1995-96. Hence, it is unlikely that the mainstream BNP and AL parties will take a firm stand against the resurgent Jamaat and other Islamist parties. Under this circumstance, the secular, peace-loving and responsible citizens of the country have to wake up and unite immediately to launch a counter-revolution to stop the rapid rise of Jamaat in Bangladesh politics. It is essential to form a strongly secular, democratic and anti-Jamaat alternative alliance without delay. Those who believe in democracy and human rights and peace, harmony and equality amongst all citizens must unite under one umbrella to forge this alliance. This alliance must take a strongly secular-humanist stand, must undertake serious and elaborate campaign to enlighten people about the evils of religious bigotry and ugly colors of the Jamaat and must pledge for separation of religion from the state. The peace-loving people from all walks of life, politically motivated or not, must rise to this challenge of religious extremism and come forward to support such alliance. Given our political history, it is unlikely that AL, BNP, the Leftist or any other party will take up this challenge. People from all corners and strata of the country, who believe in the welfare of our nation, in the welfare of our children and in a good future for our coming generations, must wake up, leave any political umbrella and even sacrifice any privileged position and unite under this alliance. Given the strength Jamaat and Islamists have already gained, it is not going to easy war to be won - it may be a long drawn-out war. A limited armed counter-attack is likely to be necessary which may demand for significant blood-shedding. The nation is already shedding blood and more difficult time is ahead. Jamaat and its Islamist allies are not going to concede defeats easily - every bit of blood they shed is believed to be rewarded in afterlife in their fanatic religious belief. We must rise up to this challenge now and undertake decisive counter-measures without delay. Else the future of our nation remains very bleak; our nation faces a sheer doom in not-too-far future.