THE country has witnessed at least one extra-judicial killing, reported as alleged incidents of ‘gunfight’ and ‘crossfire’, in every two days since the beginning of 2018. That means, the gross violation of human rights by law enforcement agencies with impunity continues unabated. Rights activists are worried while allegations have been raised that, law enforcers picked up victims and their families later came to know that their relatives have been killed either in a ‘gunfight’ or at a ‘crossfire’ incident.
First of all the law enforcers’ scant regard for rule of law is horrendous. Secondly, the culture of impunity now seems to have spread and firmed its poisonous roots stronger than ever before. The problem, however, on one hand the government is repeatedly claiming that there were no extra-judicial killings taking place in the country while on the other the horrific statistics provided by the rights agencies runs a shiver through our spines.
According to English daily The New Age, at least 48 people were killed in ‘gunfight’ from January 1 to April 11, including 42 such killings in the first three months – on an average at least one is killed in every two days. Rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra data showed that 46 people were killed in incidents of gunfights, crossfire, encounter or shooting by law enforcers and 13 of them were killed in custody. And at a much broader stage, in the last 13 years, 1,900 people have been victims of extra-judicial killings, of whom 800 died in police custody.
The victims’ families have rarely, if ever, received justice. We cannot talk about extra-judicial deaths without mentioning enforced disappearances since the two are intrinsically linked. And on the topic about rule of law, three High Court rulings on extra-judicial killings issued between 2006 and 2009 are yet to be disposed of.
Recently Rapid Action Battalion Chief while answering a question told the media that extra-judicial killing ‘terminology’ cannot be appropriate. If there is any extra-judicial killing, than there must be judicial killing. He asked whether there is any judicial killing in the country. We think it is nothing but jugglery of words. We simply say this cannot continue.
Extra judicial killing is no credit for the government no matter who are responsible for such crime. We do not say that all extra judicial killings are committed by government agencies. But not to be able to stop is a grave failure of the government. Even if it is done by government agencies it is counter productive. The whole nation is unsafe in the hand of dangerous people. Any responsible government has to believe in transparency and open justice system for building a peaceful country.
