A Common Fear Factor

The crisis in Dhaka may have come to a bloody end, but there is no closure yet on the alarming presence of organised, radical elements in the country (IS Threat at Our Door?). Their ability to mount an attack on such a scale has jolted the nation, for it had been in staunch denial for some time. J. AKSHAY, Bengaluru Terrorism in Bangladesh is a product of the dysfunctional politics of the nation. India has a vested interest in helping the country in this regard as it won’t be long before Dhaka’s IS problem becomes New Delhi’s. We need to collaborate with the Bangladesh government to locate and destroy IS bases before their operatives slip into India. MEGHANA A, New South Wales However much the Dhaka government may try to pass off the July 1 attack as the handiwork of the homegrown Jamaatul-Mujahideen, the deadly imprint of the IS cannot be ruled out. Learned scholars of the community need to counter the poisonous propaganda of IS preachers to limit the catastrophic effects of fundamentalism. N.C. SREEDHARAN, Kerala The Dhaka attack must give India the impetus to push for the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terror (CCIT). It has been stalled at the United Nations since 1996, following differences between member countries regarding the ‘definition’ of terrorism. CCIT is aimed at criminalising all forms of international terrorism and denying terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms and safe havens. Although India has set up joint mechanisms with over 25 countries to this effect, the absence of an overarching international convention leaves gaping holes in these pacts. S.A. JAYATHEERTHA, Hyderabad