***Recent incident (June 25) of a police van with two suspected child-lifters in it being torched and the suspected child-lifters burnt alive in the Badda area of Dhaka city points to the deteriorating law and order situation, growing public impatience and, above all, the futility of the police administration in the country.

IT happens in the streets of Dhaka. Chittagong. Khulna and other places in the country almost with a sickening regularity: a shabbily dressed man clutching a purse, a hijacker robbing a woman of her ornaments, often inflicting injuries, or a suspected child-liner racing through the crowds of startled and dumb founded pedestrians. An enraged mob follows hard on his heels screaming, "hijacker, hijacker, kill him. kill nlm.” They trap the man or his group in an alleyway and if he is lucky, police will come to his rescue. But often the “hijacker' is beaten to death or burned alive by the frenzied mob.

Mob justice, a most common phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa has taken hold in this country. In few countries is it meted out with such disturbing frequency or such brutality as ours in recent times.

Media reports reveal that in the last one month at least 30 persons suspected of being child-lifters have been beaten to death, and three among these 30 persons have been doused with gasoline and burnt. Recent incident (June 25) of a police van with two suspected childlifters in it being torched and the suspected child-lifters burnt alive in the Badda area of Dhaka city points to the deteriorating law and order situation, above alf the futi^ty of the police administration in the country.

Despite the fact that law enforcing agencies are now equipped with all modern gadgets including cellular phones have sadly failed to report to the troubled-spot for containing the violence. It is learnt through media reports that In the recent past four suspected cow-lifters in a village in Demra were hacked to death before the arrival of police. In most cases atrocities are fueled by some over-zealous masterminds and provocateurs who leave the troubled-spot after troubles have intensified. Shockingly, on the other hand, in absence of police Inaction people seem to have accepted "mob-Justice" as the only effective way to punish child-lifters and hijackers, sometimes (or in

most cases?) Just on suspicion!

True, the problem of abduction of school going children has acquired such an alarming proportion that schools in the capital city and other places, it appears, will have to be turned into fortresses with guards on patrol. In cities such as Delhi and Mexico, remote control alarms have replaced chewing gum and chocolates in the pockets of the wealthy students. So said a horrified and worried mother In the Dhaka city. "If the situation does not Improve, I'd rather let my child remained illiterate."

Understandably, much of the street Justice is a reaction to the country's ineffectual criminal-justice system. There is a crisis of confidence in the police administration as evidenced by many a report carried by the media. One such report said that the gang leader who masterminded the episode of brutality inflicted on Shanta, a young newly-married girl in Sreepur. Gazipur and was later arrested by the police had been set free just within 24 hours, allegedly because of political interference. People tend to feel that police take their cue from politicians, while politically-sponsored thugs are accused of burning down houses and murdering people in clashes.

Winning court cases, convictions and prison sentences against even the notorious traffickers and offenders "is a herculean task." say legal experts. Society faces an uphill struggle in a Judicial system devastated by years of neglect. Even the IG. police admitted in a recent statement to the press that about 75 per cent of the criminal cases end up In acquittal of the offenders because of weak and flawed investigation report. Many of the hit men. even if can be identified are often untouchable in the courts as well as outside. They routinely terrorise witnesses and thwart investigations. Sensible citizenry say In disgust: "the administration need to be reminded that there is a basic right that comes before any other: the right to live in peace. If we can't secure this right nothing else matters. Convictions are hard to get because the offenders rarely leave witnesses.

In cities and villages all

across the nation, gangs operate with near Impunity practising fraud and extortion, conducting illegal trade, bribing and corrupting officials and murdering anyone who gets in their way. Mugging and robbery are soaring. One may recall that a businessman-cum-garments factory owner in Mirpur, ward commissioners in Agargaon and Lalbagh area of the city were shot down some time in last year in what people believed was paid-for assassination. The recent Incidences of lynching one to death just on suspicion have overwhelmed citizenry while criminal-Justice experts in the country opine that police inaction and apathy are much to blame for this deteriorating trend. When most of the identified accused roam the streets freely evading police arrest and the court cases that drag for years end up in acquittal of the criminals, people, mostly of poor-means, who other than the mortal shock they suffer can hardly afford the cost of court cases often vent their frustration and apathy to the administrative failure in such frenzied expression of disgust and anger.

In the recent past (May 2. 1997) taking cue from a source, police rescued three minor boys Sharif (8). Al-Amin (6) and Shafiqul (7) from a certain slum in the Paltan area of the city along with their fathers Tajul Islam and Nazir Ahmed but the excesses carried in detaining the fathers in the court hazat for 11 days on suspicion of being traffickers triggered public resentment. The case of three students of Ideal School in Motijheel who played truant from school last Wednesday (25th June) with the motive of enjoying cinema but later played up a false drama of being nabbed by the traffickers was carried by a section of press without confirming the details. The mystery relating to the rescue of 16 minor boys Including

three fathers by the Gulshan police in last April remains fuzzy till now. Supposedly that might have been a case of trafficking but those godfathers masterminding the episode could, possibly. never be brought to book. Child abduction and trafficking. without any contradiction, are not all a cock and bull story. During the past one month or so. as the media report goes, at least 13 children have been rescued by the police in the country. Three children kidnapped from the Lalbagh area were rescued from a SyThet-bound train on 13th June. In another case one woman in Kapasia became a victim of mass-beating on suspicion of being child-lifter but the fact was that the woman was chasing her son on his refusal to go to Madrasah. In some cases, innocent Burkhaclad women suspected of being involved in trafficking are becoming victims of mob-frenzy.

But now people in the country are demanding to know what the government is going to do about it. A failure to bring crime of any sort under control could cost not only the image of the government but also its whole experiment with democracy. Peace loving citizens in the country hate chaos and the unremitting violence and lawlessness they see everyday have shaken them to the core. The growing loss of confidence could even produce sudden political swings most people do not cherish. A noted social scientist in the country says. "Most people exhibit their frenzied behaviour as a protest against the helplessness and inaction of the government in dealing with the crime."

Faced with a mushrooming crisis even the Prime Minister called for restraint and urged people not to take law in their own hands, assuring people of the steps to stem crime. Without a shadow of doubt, the Prime Minister also realises that the continued activities of organised crime were discrediting the

state powers and threatening the security of the country. But given the fact that little had been done until now to put teeth in the nation-wide crime-busting programme, the administration's full outplay of burst of energy would only vindicate its initiative to bolster the image that has eroded so much.

People even tend to believe that maybe, any infighting in the police administration nas much to contribute in preventing or solving crimes. For that, the countiy needs a comprehensive new crime code to spell out violations of the law, a truly and determined professional and well-paid police force and a functioning judicial system. To make an arrest, the police must catch a criminal almost in the act of breaking law.

Precisely told, police officers now are part of the problem.

Until now they did not serve the Rublic but protected the bosses.

ow in a changed situation, some of them believed to have transferred their loyalties to the crime bosses. As it appears, some of the most honest and best professionals who seem to be increasingly frustrated might quit the service and opt for working for the private security companies that seem to be coming up these days. Most people now believe that the re-Forms will go nowhere because of crime and the situation out of it has definitely reached levels that warrant extra ordinary measures. People now almost with disgust and exasperation say that "they will follow any one who promises them law and order."

While analyzing the cause of such societal drift towards lawlessness and impatience in a

section of the populace, one also fets impression that fiscal eficits. and faltering GDP Sowth in the industrial sector.

at generates employment and business, may yet cause prosperity to fizzle out and are responsible for the waywardness of the country's disgruntled youth force. And there is also a feeling that something is wrong with the 5.7 per cent GDP growth that we are preaching, that the hidden prosperity is not bringing as much of the good life as the rosy figures indicate.

In the past years, the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer and those in the middle-tnat’s most of us — have gotten squeezed. In fact, economic inequality has been growning through more than a couple of decades, it grew especially rapidly through the stagnation period of the late '80s.

Taking it for granted that the rich are getting richer and the poor have stopped getting poorer, and true enough that the Kins made by the rich have en spectacular, those of the

middle class have been barely sufficient to get them back where they were some 20 years ago. So the gap between rich and poor are simply growing. And this trend is alarming. If influences the state of affairs obviously towards lawlessness, and terrorism and if the trend continues, it could threaten the "Dream" of the party inpower and the aspiration of the suffering people.

And the dream must be based on two simple articles of national faith: (i) that each generation will live a bit better than that of its parents and build a still better life for its children (ii) that the nation will slowly but steadily progress toward Eeater equality. These twin pll-rs of belief help create political and social stability and also economic dynamism. And the cure of the malaise lies in creating a society free from the scourges of unemployment and poverty of the educated youth force.

The writer is Controller of Examinations. BUET