NEWS reports published in The New Nation on Monday said 26 activists of Awami League (AL) were arrested by RAB-7 with huge firearms at Feni on Saturday night and were sent to jail by a local court for possessing illegal arms. RAB detained those followers of local Awami League lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari with at least 36 firearms in a raid on a motorcade on Feni-Sonagazi Road. Two other microbuses fled away; otherwise, the total number of firearms recovered and the arrest would have been much larger. It is reported that the ruling party activists were returning to Feni after attending a protest rally at Sonagazi Bazar over the killing of a local Juba League leader allegedly by their rivals.
The sensational news however came as no surprise for Feni where the ruling party men are used to stage bizarre demonstrations of firearms to show their strength over the rivals. But it raises questions at the same time that if the ruling party people possess huge illegal firearms and carry them in public meetings, how the government would be able to eliminate illegal weapons to eliminate terrorism. Terrorism is terrorism whoever is resorting to it. There can’t be impunity for ruling party men while people politically opposed to the government can’t be always blamed for terrorism without reasons. The rule of law must be equally applicable to all.
As it is evident, there is hardly any control of firearms and rule of law at Feni where common people live in constant fear of hostilities by contesting political groups. Similar challenge to law and order is also reported from many other parts of the country, but Feni remains most conspicuous, as sporadic media reports show, by its lack of effective governance on unruly elements sheltered by ruling party leaders.
On Saturday night RAB officials claimed to have recovered five foreign-made shotgun, one foreign made SBBL, five foreign-made pistols, four LGs, 16 choppers, and two Chinese axes and huge bullets. What is embarrassing for the government is that the unruly party men without any sense of guilt, immediately put barricades on Dhaka-Chittagong and Feni-Noakhali Highways and Feni-Sonagazi Road demanding the release of their cadres. They vandalized at least 40 vehicles and created panic to public life.
It is noticeable that local warlords under various shades of the ruling party politics are fighting for control in Feni more than at any other place in the country. In fact they are running a kind of parallel government making people’s life insecure. It is praiseworthy that law enforcers have at least arrested some armed party men, but what is hunching the people most is whether they would be put on trial or set free because they belong to the party in power.
The most important question for the government to answer is why the government’s own law-maker and others have to carry heavy weapons when blaming others for terrorism. Besides, what should be clear to the government is that all incidents of violence are not terrorism.
