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MILITANT ATTACKS

CJ says countrymen now at a crossroads

Calls for united response

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
The countrymen are now at a crossroads of the national life facing the recent militant attacks, Chief Justice JR Mudassir Husain said yesterday.
“Every citizen has the right to live with dignity, safety and security. So, against those terrorist attacks we have no other alternative but to respond unitedly in a clear and effective way,” he said at a discussion on the rule of law in the present context of Bangladesh.
Organised by the Bureau of Human Rights Bangladesh (BHRB) at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium, the discussion marked the 57th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“We can best secure the rule of law by rooting the efforts at all levels of our social and political culture,” the chief justice said, adding that a society is well-governed when “there is a rule of law, not the rule of a person”.
He placed emphasis on effective
and impartial functioning of the judiciary, saying a modern welfare state is always governed by some laws, rules and regulations and by some guidelines and prohibitive and penal procedures.
Justice Sultan Hussain Khan, chairman of the Anti Corruption Commission, said those who are benefiting from these bomb attacks are providing all kinds of support to the bombers. “People
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should now identify who these beneficiaries are,” he said.
The country's history has not been presented properly, which has caused the recent unrest, he said.
He viewed that branding the country as a “fundamentalist” and “ineffective” state and disrupting the country's development process are also behind the recent militant attacks.
Former chief justice and BHRB Advisory Committee President Mohammed Abdur Rouf said those who always speak of human rights violation are more responsible for it.
Chief Election Commissioner Justice MA Aziz, BHRB Secretary General and Executive Director Advocate Md Shahjahan and Advisory Committee Member Khandaker Ruhul Amin also spoke at the discussion.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) yesterday formed a human chain in observance of the World Human Rights Day in front of the High Court.
Later at a brief rally, HRPB leaders called upon the people to take strong stance against the militants.
HRPB President Monjil Morshed, central leaders Asaduzzaman Siddiqi, Shah Md Farid and Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan spoke at the rally.
Human rights organisation Odhikar while presenting its annual report at a programme also expressed its grave concern over the deteriorating human rights condition in the country.
According to the Odhikar report, 374 people died at the hands of the law enforcers in the last 11 months, 324 of them in “crossfire” involving various law enforcement agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab).
The report also said 263 people, including two journalists, were killed in political violence during January-November. Besides, 206 newsmen received threats from different quarters and 825 women and children were raped, three of them by the law enforcers.
Presided over by Odhikar President Dr Tasnim Siddiqi, the discussion was addressed by senior lawyer of the Supreme Court AF Hasan Ariff.
The UN-mandated day was also observed by different organisations, including Bangladesh NGO Sammelon, Coalition for the Urban Poor, Centre for Women and Children Studies, Bangladesh Development Partnership Centre, Bangladesh Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, Bangladesh Minority Lawyers' Association, Action on Disability and Development, Manabadhikar O Samaj Unnayan Sangstha, World Peace and Human Rights Movement Bangladesh, Bangladesh Human Rights Enforcement Council, and Nagorik Uddyog.