Impunity in Bangladesh: A political sickness

The dead body a 17 year old has rocked the nation with grief. The deceased, identified as Tanvir Mohammad Twaki, was found dead at Narayanganj Sitalakhya River two days after he went missing. Police officials say he was gagged to death. Twaki attended his Ordinary Level (O-Level) examinations this year from ABC International School in the city’s Chasharah. His results were announced Thursday where he had secured record marks in Physics. He was the son of Narayanganj Ganajagaran Mancha unit organiser Rafiur Rabbi.

On the 5th of February, a 10th grade student and Shibir activist, Abid was filmed by TV cameras as being attacked by police at Agrabad in Chittagong in the aftermath of a procession. When he was later taken to the Chittagong Medical College hospital, he was unrecognizable. He was eye less. His attackers had brutally gouged out his eyes and shot him twice in the chest. Abid was a grade ten student at the Government City College.

The two incidents given here are not to bring about a parallel. They are to show the ugly side of violence. Mindless violence that has claimed talented innocent lives that can never be brought back. And its is painfully safe to say that the killers may never be found, or worse, may never be tried or never be found guilty even if tried. At worst, they may get off with a light sentence. Read these two articles on Abu Bakar of Dhaka University and Bishwajit to gain an insight into a political mentality bordering on the verge of insanity.

 It is mentionable that more than 100 people have died in recent weeks of unrest when security forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators. The government has been saying that these acts were not of aggression but that of 'defence'. On these grounds each and every death has been treated as a phenomenon of collateral damage. Those carrying out such crimes have been given impunity. The dead have been waived off as insignificant since their killing occurred during demonstrations associated with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Islami Chatro Shibir. They were Jamaat-Shibir, not human beings.

This is a mentality that has plagued our national conscience and disrupted our growth towards that coveted goal of a humane society where a life will be treated as a life, not as a political statistic.  

And the Almighty knows best.