The victims of the family of another BNP activist, Shaon Mahmud, who was shot dead by police Thursday in Narayanganj will not see justice because he did not belong to the ruling party Awami League. His death, like the deaths of two other BNP activists in Bhola some days ago, will not see the light of justice. Is it for this the country was liberated 51 years ago?
The act of killing Shaon, a young man of 20, has already been condoned by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday when she said, soon after his death, that the police had acted in self defence and used fire power. Once the prime minister said this, now neither the police department nor the judiciary has that necessary independence and will to pursue Shaon’s murder neutrally to find the truth which is evidently different and disprove the prime minister and punish the police responsible for creating Thursday’s mayhem. Such has become a vicious way of governance in Bangladesh, as if there is no law and justice system here.
The news surfaced the following day in the media clearly painted a different picture. It was the police that swooped first on the 44th founding anniversary procession of BNP charging batons when it reached the Railway Gate area in Narayanganj. Was it necessary or legal? The Constitution of the country gives each and every political party or the citizens the right to hold assembly and express their grievances. Yet the government is continuing to deny that right blatantly for more than a decade now.
Understandably, the government is afraid of protests from people and wants to cling to power by using force. Soon after the police action, the processionists reacted by pelting brickbats at police and clashes ensued. The use of fire power by police was in excess and redundant, yet they deliberately did it. This is the tactic the government through its law enforcing agencies has been utilizing to create an atmosphere of intimidation for a long time. Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances are an express part of this tactic.
The people who are now coming out on the streets protesting corruption and price hike of daily necessities are citizens
of this country. They want the holding of national elections in a free and fair manner. The people who are within the government and outside are all citizens and have equal rights before the law. Life of each citizen is precious, and no one’s life has greater value than the others. Only people with moral depravity fail to understand this simple truth and go on putting out lives of the opposition one after another.
The nation’s collective effort is now necessary to bring change to this situation and restore the promises of the country’s independence.
