Editorial Desk :
The Tangail schoolboy, who has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a mobile court last week told the High Court on Tuesday about the alleged torture on him by a local MP, an OC and a UNO, as mentioned a report of a local daily.
The OC [officer-in-charge] blindfolded him and beat him up at the police station and told him that he would be put on crossfire. Fearing crossfire, he confessed that he had written about threatening the MP on Facebook, said Sabbir Shikder, as per the report.
He said the MP had hit him and the Upazila Nirbahi Officer kicked him. The ninth-grader, who was
sentenced by the mobile court reportedly under the Information and Communication Technology Act for threatening Awami League MP Anupam Shahjahan, appeared before the HC following its suo moto rule. However, according to the UNO’s lawyer, the boy was sentenced on charges of carrying marijuana.
Following a report published in an English Daily, the HC on September 20 issued the suo moto rule and asked the UNO and the OC to appear before it on Tuesday and explain why a schoolboy was sentenced to two years in jail under the ICT Act over alleged threats made to a lawmaker via Facebook. The HC also granted Sabbir, a student of Protima Bonik Public High School, bail and asked him to appear before it on same day with relevant documents to ascertain his age.
It is known that the government has allowed police all the freedom to use their power. Our former DMP Commissioner, and now the Chief of RAB says it proudly that they are people’s police and they know how to serve them. He is boasting of how much confidence the people repose on RAB and police — such claims appear reassuring. But the facts of police abuse of power say a different story. Discipline among police has become disturbing.
The Human Rights Watch report narrates brutal activities of police that are unbelievable. The arrest of opposition party workers and shoot them on their legs to make them disabled indicates level of police discipline. The police officers must also find out if others are misrepresenting as police.
But the story of the school student of Tangail as stated before the High Court Division about the treatment of the local OC does not show that he has anybody above to punish him for his gross misconduct. Only to please the local Member of Parliament he assaulted the boy, threatened him to put on crossfire unless he confesses his guilt of saying bad things against the MP. Later, a mobile court magistrate filed a false case for drug abuse. Details are not important, what is horrifying is the boldness shown by OC of Shakhipur in callously flouting the law. He felt no existence of higher police authority.
The politicians are what they are in our country. But police high-ups cannot be proud of police force untamed by police discipline.
We do not want to blame the MP because he is not accountable to the people. It is certainly unfortunate that even the magistrate behaved worse than police to start of a false case. They are not fit to be citizens of a free country, not to speak of holding responsible public posts.
What we are witnessing is chaos of unaccountability. The people are helpless when they cannot protect their voting rights. But it is foolish to think oppression against the people will go on for ever.
The Tangail schoolboy, who has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a mobile court last week told the High Court on Tuesday about the alleged torture on him by a local MP, an OC and a UNO, as mentioned a report of a local daily.
The OC [officer-in-charge] blindfolded him and beat him up at the police station and told him that he would be put on crossfire. Fearing crossfire, he confessed that he had written about threatening the MP on Facebook, said Sabbir Shikder, as per the report.
He said the MP had hit him and the Upazila Nirbahi Officer kicked him. The ninth-grader, who was
sentenced by the mobile court reportedly under the Information and Communication Technology Act for threatening Awami League MP Anupam Shahjahan, appeared before the HC following its suo moto rule. However, according to the UNO’s lawyer, the boy was sentenced on charges of carrying marijuana.
Following a report published in an English Daily, the HC on September 20 issued the suo moto rule and asked the UNO and the OC to appear before it on Tuesday and explain why a schoolboy was sentenced to two years in jail under the ICT Act over alleged threats made to a lawmaker via Facebook. The HC also granted Sabbir, a student of Protima Bonik Public High School, bail and asked him to appear before it on same day with relevant documents to ascertain his age.
It is known that the government has allowed police all the freedom to use their power. Our former DMP Commissioner, and now the Chief of RAB says it proudly that they are people’s police and they know how to serve them. He is boasting of how much confidence the people repose on RAB and police — such claims appear reassuring. But the facts of police abuse of power say a different story. Discipline among police has become disturbing.
The Human Rights Watch report narrates brutal activities of police that are unbelievable. The arrest of opposition party workers and shoot them on their legs to make them disabled indicates level of police discipline. The police officers must also find out if others are misrepresenting as police.
But the story of the school student of Tangail as stated before the High Court Division about the treatment of the local OC does not show that he has anybody above to punish him for his gross misconduct. Only to please the local Member of Parliament he assaulted the boy, threatened him to put on crossfire unless he confesses his guilt of saying bad things against the MP. Later, a mobile court magistrate filed a false case for drug abuse. Details are not important, what is horrifying is the boldness shown by OC of Shakhipur in callously flouting the law. He felt no existence of higher police authority.
The politicians are what they are in our country. But police high-ups cannot be proud of police force untamed by police discipline.
We do not want to blame the MP because he is not accountable to the people. It is certainly unfortunate that even the magistrate behaved worse than police to start of a false case. They are not fit to be citizens of a free country, not to speak of holding responsible public posts.
What we are witnessing is chaos of unaccountability. The people are helpless when they cannot protect their voting rights. But it is foolish to think oppression against the people will go on for ever.
