The eighth anniversary of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, the deadliest night of terror in the country’s history, was commemorated on Monday.
On July 1, 2016, the appalling terrorist attack by a group of armed militants at the upscale restaurant in Dhaka’s Gulshan took away 22 invaluable lives, including nine Italian nationals, seven Japanese, one US-Bangladeshi, one Indian and two policemen, and inflicted injury to many others, reports UNB.
Expressing solidarity with the victims of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack and their families, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Monday said the government of Bangladesh has remained steadfast in its commitment to work towards a “peaceful” Bangladesh for all, especially for the foreign friends.
“We reaffirm our government’s commitment to work together with the people and the governments of Italy, Japan, India and the USA as well the world community to fight this menace,” he said while paying tribute to the victims.
Speaking at a commemorative event at the residence of Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro, Masud said Bangladesh has already employed several hard and soft approaches, including intelligence-led operation, continuous surveillance on suspected terrorists and arresting or detaining them to deal with the threat of violent extremism, as well as seeking to address the process of radicalisation along with community engagement.
Director General for Italian Citizens Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Vignali, representing the Italian government, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma, US Ambassador Peter Haas and Japanese Ambassador Iwama Kiminori also paid tribute to the victims of Holey Artisan attack through the deposition of floral wreaths.
They also solemnly remembered the Bangladeshi law enforcement officials, who were killed or injured responding to this despicable terrorist attack.
Representatives of the families of the victims and victims’ friends from the expatriate community in Dhaka were also present. The majority of the victims were foreigners residing in or visiting the capital’s diplomatic quarter in Gulshan-Baridhara.
“We pay our homage to the memories of the supreme sacrifices of the 20 innocent individuals and two police officers. They will always have a special place in our hearts and our prayers,” said Masud, who served at Bangladesh missions in Japan, Italy and the US.
He said the government of Bangladesh has always stood in solidarity with the victims and their families. Bangladesh’s response to this tragic incident had been incessant, till the verdict of the landmark trial, which brought the perpetrators to justice, he added.
“The very tragic incident has helped us renew our commitments towards the elimination of terrorism from our society. We have made significant strides in combating terrorism and preventing violent extremism in recent years, in conformity with our government’s zero-tolerance approach as announced by our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
The foreign secretary said the government remains committed to upholding religious harmony and peaceful co-existence in the multi-cultural society against the misguided objectives of any radical or reactionary elements.
“On this solemn occasion, we also reiterate our sincere appreciation to Italy, Japan, India and the US to remain firmly committed to contributing to our aspiration to become a knowledge-based, modern and climate-resilient Smart Bangladesh by 2041,” he said.
Luigi Vignali said he is here to pay tribute to the victims and their families; and also reaffirm their strong bonding and friendship with Bangladesh. “We stand together.”
He appreciated Bangladesh’s efforts in addressing the issue and said they will build the bridges of a better future by working together.
Earlier in the morning, the diplomats including the envoys of Italy, India, the US and Japan also paid tribute to the victims of the attack at Diplomatic Police Headquarters. Tribute was paid by the DMP commissioner as well.
The international community commends Bangladesh’s efforts to bring those responsible to justice and recommit to their strong partnership to prevent future attacks.
The threats of violent extremism in Bangladesh have “subsided significantly” since the Holey Artisan attack due to the “whole of society” approach of the government to prevent violent extremism (PVE).
The ambassador of Italy to Bangladesh praised Bangladesh’s accomplishments in particular the community-based approach to PVE.
