Bangladesh bans TV station, tracks students after attacks

Dhaka / AFP

Bangladesh moved to counter a deadly wave of extremist attacks Sunday, ordering an Islamic television station to stop broadcasting and telling schools to report any missing students.
The measures come after several extremists were reported to be fans of the television channel, while others were found to be from elite universities but had been missing for months. A Bangladesh cabinet committee decided to ban Peace TV from the country, information minister Hasanul Haq Inu said on Sunday.
The station is run by Indian doctor-turned-preacher Zakir Naik, the founder and president of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation.
PM Sheikh Hasina earlier in the day called on every school, college and university to “create a list of absent students and publish it”. Bangladesh has been reeling from dozens of attacks, mainly targeting secular activists or religious minorities. “We will be rigorous,” the premier said. “We must uproot militancy and terrorism from Bangladesh.”
Three of the alleged extremists who participated in an attack on a Dhaka cafe last week, in which 20 hostages were murdered, attended top schools and universities in the Bangladeshi capital.
The revelation that the attackers were educated, well-off members of society has sparked fears that Islamism has spread far beyond disenfranchised youngsters being radicalised in madrasas.
School authorities would now have to provide information on any students who have an unexplained absence of 10 days or more, education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said.
Another student of a well-regarded university participated in a deadly attack in northern Bangladesh on Thursday that killed at least three people at a huge prayer gathering marking the start of Eid.