attacking the sixth pillar

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/21302.asp

The present government has illegalised the sixth pillar of Islam - jihad. Which pillar will be banned next: namaaz, zakat, hajj...?

You cannot prohibit jihad in a Muslim country: there will always be intrepid and pious souls ready to come to the rescue of their coreligionists in other parts of the world.

What will happen is foreseeable: a government that tries to reward treachery, and punish loyalty, will end up on the jihadis' list of people to attack. So far, Bangladesh - and the Awami League - has attracted the least well-trained of the jihadis from the Muslim diaspora.

That is about to change.

The next lot will be more thorough, better-skilled, better-armed...they will be inspired by the sight of a supposedly Muslim prime minister holding hands with a member of a Hindu dynasty.

If the Taliban can fight the world's most powerful military machine, think how easily similar groups can take on the Bangladesh armed forces. Pakistan has one of the most highly-trained armies, and yet the Taliban and al-Quaeda have been inflicting heavy casualties.

The Bangladesh armed forces will have no choice but to join hands with the jihadis. Even if the present government bribes and politicizes the upper ranks of the armed forces, the lower ranks will not be bought or coerced.

Just think about this simple truism: you can't bribe everyone, and you can't kill everyone, and you can't intimidate everyone.

This is going to be one long, bloody year.