Dhaka cafe siege shows fault lines of Bangladesh’s long history of political strife

When Bangladesh dismissed the Islamic State’s (IS) claim of responsibility for the deadly hostage crisis that gripped Dhaka’s diplomatic zone over the weekend, some questioned if authorities were in denial.

The government instead insisted home-grown militants were behind the attack at an upscale Dhaka restaurant left 28 dead, including 20 hostages, two police officers and six of the attackers. It said the claims by transnational jihadist groups were simply opportunistic grabs at global attention.

Analysts say Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has a point.

The attack, the worst in a wave of violence waged by radical Islamists in recent years, speaks to a deeper divide within the nation of 160 million – one that has pitted secularists against those yearning for Islamic rule since the country won independence from Pakistan in a bloody war in 1971.

“Most people are not aware of the record, of Bangladesh as having been born of strife,” said Ajai Sahni, a counterterrorism expert at the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi. “It is a politically polarised country where many people have been radicalised over decades. It’s going to be a long, uphill task for any government to reverse.”