“I do not seek justice I want sense to prevail” not an easy statement to be made by the father whose son has become victim in the hands of assassins. Only a man of great character and understanding of the senseless situation prevailing in the country could make it.Our government has no accountability. So it is not necessary for it to be sensible and accept responsibility. But no government can go on being incapable to ensure public safety. Besides, the system of trial by police remand and forced confession does not give confidence that the real culprits are being caught and punished.Professor A K Fazlul Haq of Dhaka University said so after he found his son Faisal Arefin Dipon was assassinated last Saturday in his publisher’s office. His fault could be that he published a wrong book. Three others were seriously injured in another publishing house in the city. These two incidents happened within a space of four hours. Those who committed such crimes had no difficulty in escaping freely as if heavy police presence in the city was no problem. In fact, visible police presence is no deterrent against the secret killers.We praise the cool courage of Prof. Fazlul Haq as shown in his most tragic situation. His assessment that the remedy against the killers is not in the justice process. He knew that those responsible for the crime committed against his son are not ordinary criminals and the justice system will be of no help. He wanted sanity and a sense of responsibility to prevail.Prof Haq is conscious of the socio-political malaise making life unsafe for all. Through his writings and television talk shows he urged responsible conduct from the decision makers in power and others in public life. He was angry within himself for failures continuing in public life but in expressing his disappointment he never lost his cool. He spoke against political intolerance to see an end to it giving his best of arguments.So when he said he did not want killers of his dearest son not to be punished he was aware of the reality that the solution lies in politics and not in police action. Unprecedented police activities in Dhaka could not stop the killers of his son and others.It is clear that those who killed are not ordinary criminals. They are responding to a situation of hatred created through mishandling of the country’s politics. Extremism of one kind produces extremism of another kind. Both are equally bad and both must be stopped.To be free-thinkers cannot be insanity. What is not understandable is why attack on Islam should be the subject of free-thinking. Their free-thinking is political and extremely provocative in a country of moderate Muslims. Let the so-called free-thinkers show how constructive they are in solving our myriad problems.Bangladesh will never be an intolerant Muslim country if the wrongheaded free-thinkers are stopped showing their hatred against Islam from a political motive. Let these free-thinkers not call themselves freedom fighters only to call others non-freedom fighters. The war of liberation was for democracy and it should be known to such so-called free-thinkers as opposed to genuine freedom fighters that democracy is secularism and genuine freedom fighters fought for democracy and not for a religious war.
