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December 04, 2015

Bangladesh: Cricket wins and life goes on .... (Jaideep Mazumdar)

The Times of India

Cricket wins and life goes on in Bangla

| TNN | Dec 3, 2015, 06.01 AM IST
 

DHAKA: The collective roar that emerged from the Sher-eBangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka's Mirpur on November 22 when the Rangpur Riders and Dhaka Dynamites won the two successive inaugural matches of the Bangladesh Premier League reverberated across the country.

Because it was not just a few hundred fans cheering for their teams. The roar was a voluble rejection of the bandh that the Bangladesh Jamaat-eIslami had called that Sunday to protest the execution of its general secretary, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed. To even a keen observer, nothing seemed out of the ordinary that day in Dhaka and there was no sign on the city's busy and chaotic streets that earlier that day , two prominent political figures, both former MPs, had been executed at Dhaka Cen at Dhaka Central Jail for mass killings, rapes and tortures dur ing the 1971Liberation War.
Jaamat cadres were visible by their absence not only in Dhaka, but other cities and towns across the country . Unlike in the past, when a bandh by the Jamaat would cripple life, it was normal this time. If anything, there were sporad ic revelries in many places across the country to `celebrate' the executions, something that none would have dared a couple of years ago.

"This shows Jamaat, without state patronage, has lost its clout. And also that Bangla deshis are deshis are peace-loving, progressive, tolerant and secular people who believe in the ideals and philosophy of `Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman. 
Cricket wins and life goes on in BanglaArijit Hazra

The people have pronounced a resounding rejection of the intolerant, parochial, regres sive and sick ideology of the Jamaat and other radicals.

Bangladesh will now see a de feat of the anti-liberation forces," said information minister Hasanul Haq Inu.

But many advise caution.The Jamaat and the radicals are far from broken and retain the potential to destabilise life through killings of soft targets, like bloggers, authors and publishers, random bomb blasts and attacks on minorities and foreigners. "Such attacks have taken place and we fear more such will. But by relentlessly pursuing these criminals and bringing them to book, we have displayed resolve to establish rule of the law. Our strict and prompt action against criminals will deter the Jamaat and their fellow travelers," he said.