Many rivers, one sea: Bangladesh and the challenge of Islamist militancy

On the night of 1 July 2016, six men armed with crude bombs, pistols and machetes hacked and shot to death 20 people at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's wealthiest neighbourhood. The attack decisively laid to rest the denials of Sheikh Hasina's government about Islamic State-inspired Islamist militancy taking root in the country. That some of the attackers were from English-speaking, middle-class backgrounds was particularly shocking. The attack awakened governments and observers across the world to Islamist militancy in Bangladesh and its local, regional and global connections. Joseph Allchin, a seasoned journalist who has covered Bangladesh for years, was at the...