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Administration shouldn't remain indifferent

Kibria's killing is a blot on our national psyche

MD. ASADULLAH KHAN
THE grisly killing of SAMS Kibria -- a top intellectual, a high profile diplomat, a statesman-cum-politician, an ex-Finance Minister of Bangladesh and most notably an ardent advocate of human rights -- by grenade attack in a tranquil town of Habiganj magnified a terrifying truth: men driven by hate, extremist ideology and intolerance are there to set the Bangladesh civil society on fire. Ostensibly, Mr. Kibria's liberal views of the statecraft, social structure and welfare of the people at large regardless of religion and sect made him the target of the savage act on January 26 last. There is no point overlooking the fact that the perpetrators of this dastardly killing -- and several others in the past one year -- had an agenda.
The unprecedented violence and killing that the country witnessed through repeated grenade and bomb attacks in meetings and rallies, namely, attack on opposition AL leader Sk Hasina on August 21, last year preceded by attack on Mr. Anwar Chaudhury, British High Commissioner in Bangladesh have turned the country in to a dangerous place in the world. It is sad that Bangladesh till recently a veritable crucible of intellectualism is now in the grip of barbaric and uncivilised forces. Unquestionably true, Kibria had no enemy and he was not involved in any feud. But there are certain attributes in Kibria that a group belonging to an extremist ideology could not countenance. Kibria was a staunch advocate of human rights, a voice against oppression and terrorism and virulent form of fundamentalism that might shape up as threat to liberal democracy.
Terrorism and intolerance of others views, religion and action are the two scourges that afflicted him most. And his writings and columns spoke valiantly against persons,
groups and political parties fanning hatred and unstable situation in the country through portrayal of religion and extremes philosophy as the core issue. When the news Kibria's killing by grenade attack was broadcast over the electronic media, a chill ran up the nation's spine. The spurt of violence and killing of men of name and fame through such dastardly attack is more than alarming.
Shockingly true, as of now, government machinery's have not been able to figure out any motive. These are critical times for Bangladesh. As this coalition government struggles to address a range of social and economic ills, the last thing we need is further tension. Seldom in the past few decades has this country needed a leadership to steer clear of crises, doldrums and chaos as it is now. Political intrigue, bickerings, infighting and bankruptcy have almost become norms in Bangladesh. Belying all expectations of a settlement, our divisive politics is headed towards a chaotic disaster for the country already threatened by unemployment, production cut in the mills and factories and crop-losses in the fields due to severe flood last year. Food prices are soaring, adding to the daily misery of millions who live in abysmal poverty. People in the country do not know how long they will have to wait for the kind of leadership the country now desperately needs.
Because of non-governance , the last few years witnessed a disastrous upsurge of violence that cost hundreds of lives, a steady worsening of the economy and an unprecedented polarisation of the society on extremist lines. The message of all these ominous developments is clear: democratic norms is rapidly loosing its grip over the society at large. Unable to withstand the surge of crimes and the increased responsibility for the crises, the grandiose structure of the reform measures of the administration have proved to be a futile effort. It will not take long to collapse altogether burying most of the development projects that are on
the anvil. Liberal minded people are wary of the dangerous consequences of the social breakdown marking a growing ideological void. At present, this void is often filled with the destructive ideas of militant nationalism, religious intolerance, violent greed, and cynicism. The result is partisan clashes, social alienation, and rise of crime that has let loose a terrible wave of turmoil in different parts of the country.
To check the maladies from taking the shape of catastrophe a brave new leadership is needed. This must be backed by a massive educational campaign that can fill the minds of millions of disillusioned Bangladeshis with the values and ideals that helped nations of the world to survive and prosper through their days of turmoil. These ideals -the primacy of human rights, the rule of law and ideological tolerance -must be enshrined in the society. To be sure, in the state of affairs as it is these days in the country, efforts to make these pristine values acceptable in a society torn apart by economic, political and behavioural crisis is not an easy task. But the bulk of the initiative for the revival of the society will definitely have to come form within the society itself, from its leaders and intelligentsia who are till now at logger heads with each other.
The most prominent casualty of the present political crisis is the country's badly needed economic expansion programme. As it appears, foreign investors and donors grow wary of venturing into an inflammable area, a conflict-ridden site that has largely been made so by the politicians themselves, to the utter disregard of people's torments and sufferings. In their quest for public office and the payoffs of power, they have inflamed passions and used every trick to promote personal gain. They have exploited and manipulated all the weaknesses inherent in a developing society. Social fissures which statesmen would normally attempt to bridge have been deepened by some of us seeking short term advantages.
Shockingly, government and law enforcement agency stood by silently watching these dastardly acts to occur and rise to such a menacing proportion. Crime breeds crime and inevitably more criminal act plunge the society into chaos and disarray. These dastardly criminal activities of a microscopic section of the populace should have alerted the politicians and administrators to reevaluate and guard the goals of democratic society. The sooner this reality is understood, the better. It is in this light that our leaders, politicians and custodians of the society must take appropriate measure to curb terrorism. Most people now say that the country is faced with a crisis of governance the root cause of which is the "flawed design" of our democracy. While committing ourselves to the dictum of development, taking measures that would enable us to ensure law, order and stability, we also tend to think that everything is fair in love, war and politics. The resulting situation is that most people in the country are now deeply distressed with the failure of the state to fulfil their expectations of good governance. In such an atmosphere of despair, cynicism, fear and paralysing consequences, one can see the biggest danger of muscle-manry and terrorism creeping into the society and overtaking state power. People learnt with shock and trepidation that a list of godfathers prepared at the behest of the law enforcing agency could not be published not to speak of arresting them, for reasons best known to the administration.
The rural surroundings that could once take pride of being peaceful and tranquil now appear to be heading also towards a chaos. Politics has not gone beyond the narrow limits of petty self-interest and extremist lines even in the districts and thanas. It is time the administration recognised the dangers of letting the extremist political groups take control of things and ride roughshod over the principle of sacrifice and spirit of liberation war.
In the quagmire of dirty politics,
those who suffer now are the country's hapless millions. The portents are grim but the end results could be apocalyptic. People only wonder if the rot that has started setting in can be stopped from spreading further. Only those countries and people who had something to gain (!) from such overtures encouraged it. It is time that danger from such intolerance is realised and our energy, resources, pragmatism and wisdom are channeled to much-needed development programmes. Only then can usher in any peace and prosperity.
It should be brought home to those self-centred politicians and zealots that this is not only undermining the government but also the state and this is very adversely affecting foreign investment vis-à-vis national development. People also think that, apparently, the administration has flip-flopped on major policy decisions allowing the divisive forces to gain ground. History teaches that discarding reason and critical thinking in favour of fanaticism, and extremist lines, leads only to misery.
In recent times , Khulna, Jessore, Jhenidah, Narail, Kushtia in the south western part of the country to Rajshahi, Natore and Dinajpur on the northern side have during the last few years featured as the nation's most crime-prone zone marked by murders committed frequently. Many journalists and freedom fighters have been brutally assassinated in broad day light by the extremists on both the lines of the political divide. The ruling alliance speaks in the Parliament and in the media of the good work done by the police but the multipronged strategy launched to combat crime draws only jeers from the unconvinced citizenry. Alleged patronage of criminals by politicians and a demoralised police force have pushed up crime in the country. Precisely true, Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna have attained the dubious distinction of being a criminal's paradise where most of the heinous crimes are committed at will with alarming frequency.
The administration apparently has been obliged to play second fiddle to Bangla Bhai group in the northern part of Bangladesh. Having committed the most atrocious crimes including about fifteen murders, Bangla Bhai and his operatives are virtually running a parallel empire. Why were they so emboldened to behave so recklessly? The answer is obvious, there is no rule of law in the country! It seems the country operates on a very simple principle: show me the person and I'll show you the law. There is no equality before the law. Consequently, there is no deterrence either.
SAMS Kibria, a high profile diplomat and a crusader in the Bangladesh liberation movement turned to politics after retirement from govt. service to serve the interest of the country and emancipate people from the depths of despair and poverty. His brutal killing has taken away from us a patriot whose effort to bolster the image of the country outside the borders of Bangladesh had always been admirable. Mr. Saifur Rahman, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, while expressing his deep shock at the killing of SAMS Kibria, a meritorious son from his own area and the same school he studied in, admitted that this clandestine incident would greatly dent the image of the country and credibility of the government as well. The LGED minister and a stalwart of the ruling BNP also admitted that there might be serious lapses in the investigative machinery that has encouraged terrorists to operate so freely. True, our seemingly incept policing and justice system have became the most favoured alibi of the terrorists operating on Bangladesh soil and their sponsors inside and across the borders. Puzzlingly, our politicians in the ruling party still refuse to admit that until our justice system and policing start functioning properly criminals and terrorists will continue to treat the government's so-called fight against terrorism with disdain. Ironically, our articulate law minister waste so much time explaining the virtues of Rab, Chita and Cobra.
For a while after January 27 it had seemed as if our political leaders in the ruling alliance had been jolted into recognising the urgency of bringing about changes and taking steps that would really help us with the fight against rampant terrorism. Now, it is beginning to seem as if nobody is serious about doing the things that would make a real difference. Md Asadullah Khan is a former teacher and Controller of Examinations, BUET.