AS per disclosure by Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK); which is a human rights body, civic and political rights situation in Bangladesh had worsened last year despite claims of improvement by the government and there is hardly any indication that it may improve until the political situation improves. What the ASK wanted to say is that the rule of law and improvement of human rights condition is tied to each other; one can’t improve without the other. Good governance is essential for better condition of human rights.
Death in political violence, crossfire and mass beating; enforced disappearance along with rights violation of religious and ethnic minorities got aggravated last year that just ended Thursday last. Killings of bloggers kept the nation restive. Major opposition BNP-led alliances called movement triggered violence early in January last year that continued up to March when many people were killed in street violence, arson on transports and cross-fire of law enforcers.
The year saw the door to democracy almost closing with City Corporation and just concluded Municipal elections highly rigged in which voters turn out were very few. It was particularly alarming that law enforcers were found involved in forced disappearance of opposition political leaders and workers when the country also saw rise of religious extremism and militancy taking advantage of the lack of democratic space to the opposition. Political repression and excessive rigidity over freedom of expression led the law and order to a breaking point. But the government remained combative to the opposition to coward them from calling for fresh free and fair election.
ASK’s report was hefty with people killed in political violence, extra-judicially killing and mass beating and the number was higher over the past year. But deaths particularly in the opposition called blockade and hartals could be avoided if the country had a democratic government respectful to the wishes of the people.
The state is responsible for safety of its citizens but the authorities neither issued any statement admitting death in police torture nor denying such deaths as the ASK reports claimed. It also did not initiate any investigation into such deaths.
Killing of free-thinkers and foreign nationals including attack on Christian priests, bombing on Hussaini Dalan and Ahmadiyya mosque panicked the nation. The government’s ban on using facebook was then the most controversial move to deny chance to the opposition to organize public opinion against the government.
In our view the government may be suffering from a kind of hysteria fearing free and fair election and the deteriorating human rights condition amply suggests it. We believe that the government has to agree at the end that there is no alternative to democratic government to be elected in a free and fair election. Denial of human rights will not win people’s heart.
