The recent decision by Bangladesh's government to take action against Holey Artisan Bakery for “operating illegally” is a clear case of the government’s inability to set its priorities straight.
This comes as part of a wider decision to shut down all restaurants, educational institutes, and hospitals operating without permission in the Gulshan area in Dhaka.
Though initiatives to uphold the rules is normally a good idea, to do it now in the wake of the horrific terror attack at the restaurant on July 1 where many innocent people lost their lives, is an insensitive attempt at passing blame and distracting from the real issue.
Moving in on the owners of Holey Artisan as a consequence of what happened on that terrible night is a shameful move on part of the authorities, and is victim blaming at its worst.
What happened almost three weeks ago was a tragedy, but this is not what this country needs right now.
The government needs to focus on investigating what led to the attack in the first place, and to prevent incidents such as these from happening in the future.
As of Sunday night, questions still remain on what really occurred, and about the actions taken by the government since then.
Blaming the owners of well-known establishments, which provide much-needed employment to countless across the city and nation, and shifting the focus on to them and their personal and financial goings-on will solve nothing.
We need to focus on what’s important.
The government needs to find the real masterminds behind the incident instead of clouding the issue.
This article first appeared on the Dhaka Tribune website.