Washington. A former White House official said that America has serious concerns about the increasing extremism in Bangladesh. He also said that former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had controlled it well. Lisa Curtis, former deputy assistant to US President-elect Donald Trump and who served as Senior Director of the National Security Council for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, said this. “Bangladesh is at a critical juncture,” he said. There is much hope from the efforts to oust Sheikh Hasina from power and reform the political system. People hope that the democratic process will become stronger.
“But there is also a lot of concern,” Curtis said in an interview with PTI. Some Islamic extremists have been released from prisons. There have been some attacks on minorities, Hindus, Christians.” Curtis said, ”We have seen the history of terrorism in Bangladesh. In 2016, Holi (Artisan) Bakery was attacked. This was a very serious incident. Some terrorists of ISIS (Islamic State) were present in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina did a good job in controlling the extremist problem in Bangladesh.
He said there is concern that these people will come back into the political scene, which will not be good for Bangladesh. “This will not be helpful to the region as a whole, to the United States, or to anyone,” he said. We are going through a critical period in Bangladesh. So even though it may not be Trump’s first priority, I think his team, his national security team, will have to pay attention to what’s going on (there).” Curtis also said that the incoming administration should work together with India because India is also concerned about the future of Bangladesh and being a neighbor it is affected the most.
