On the law and order issue
The first, and so far only, opinion poll on the performance of Bangladesh’s current government’s performance found law and order to be the area of its greatest weakness. That was in April. Casual observation of the media — newspapers as well as TV news and talk shows — suggest the law and order has slided a lot further in the months since. Anecdotal evidence from friends and family support the view. Syeed Ahamed puts it this way:
Such social disorder contradicts the whole purpose of having a national government. Citizens elect a group of persons among themselves as the government of the country so that law and order is maintained. It is perceived as a “social contract” between the people and the government, implying that the people give up some rights to the government in order to receive social order. Most historical accounts suggest this as the reason of establishing states and affirm that the principal task of the government is to maintain law and order. Issues such as taxation, budget, development works, and poverty reduction came much later as other government duties.
And the government’s reaction — return of the ‘crossfire’ under a new name — suggests that it is taking the problem seriously.
When one starts thinking about the issue, the following points/questions stand out:
1. Crossfires aka encounters aka gunfights aka extrajudicial killings are clear violation of Awami League’s election pledge.
2. It’s not even clear that we have a violent crimes problem that require such drastic measures.
3. The real law and order problem has no quick fix.
Our PM Hasina defended crossfire as self defense but so far no RAB men is wounded on these attack .RAB’s ESP is very high so looking into eyes they read the intention !
I don’t support underground party’s activities but that doesn’t give me license to kill all their leaders .
When there are provisions of doing quick trial why the life sentence is given on street .
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I totally disagree 500% with jyotis comment that “there is no quick fix”. Thats the awami response, when nachte na janle utthan baka, excuse for failure. When CTG-army took power, law & order became PERFECT OVERNIGHT!! If that fix was possible instantly, why cant Hasina quickfix it either?? why should AL need 200 years to fix it?
Is crime and corruption the currency of BD “democracy”, that without it ‘politics’ cannot survive? Does AL need crime to run the nation? Is that what shadhinota means to bangalis? WHY CANT CIVILIANS
I suggest Hasina should go to a 6-month Law&Order course in New York or Florida, and LEARN how to police a nation. And dont spend all day shopping!! LEARN.
When CTG had rounded-up 100s of politicians into jail for rampant plundering of Peoples money, and when I had applauded jubilantly, a lot of people said “what? how can we support such a ‘Police state?’”" Instead, what do we have now?
Thats right, we now have a CRIMINAL STATE. So folks, which one do you prefer?
a so-called ‘police state’ with little crime, or a criminal state with rampant mugging and plundering of innocent people (including yourself)?
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jyoti Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 3:10 am
Mr KGazi, disagree with me 1,000%, but I hope Hasina learns nothing from the US about law enforcement. US has the worst law and order record of major developed economies.
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jyoti, FBI is no joke, in world top ranking – they WILL train her the quickfix.
Hasina’s basic training from USA will be FAR superior than any TOP 3rd world. But I only chose FL & NY so she can have daal-bhat during lunch, while training, why suffer sauerkraut in Zurich or Geneva?
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How FBI & CIA are we have seen that on 9/11 .They are big fat Jokers …
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” The real law and order problem has no quick fix.” – If the quick fix is ” cross fire ” we have it in place and well supported by PM and her government. They are not shy about it. CTG ruled under emergency , and it’s not an good example. The context is ” Bangladesh’s current government’s performance found law and order to be the area of its greatest weakness.” What has changed after CTG rule ? Who are the persons creating these ” law and odder ” situations ? They are popularly known as “Mastans “. Yes, they are back along with our democracy ! Yes, extortion, mugging and murders top the list of crimes they do. Who are the patrons of these heroes ? Invariably those power brokers. Do we have a “quick fix ” to fix these power brokers ? Unfortunately NO. We need to understand that we can’t achieve much with a sys where criminal cases are being withdrawn by executive orders and roping in “politics ” with it. The thing is our Judiciary is still not completely independent. Political parties wield complete control over public prosecutors. Lawyers are formally at loggers head with partisan politics. SPA 1974 is still used as a political tool. And of course scant respect for constitution . Which says :
PART III / FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
31. Right to protection of law. To enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.
32. Protection of right to life and personal liberty. No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.
The bottom line is delivery of justice. How do we ensure delivery of justice ? Any quick fix for this ?
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I wonder what PA & DS perceiving the issue of crossfire this time around. Last time they have opened a death counter. Since I do not read these newspapers can any one reflect on this.
Killing in Cross fire, Jangi, corruptions, pro-liberation all are politically directed jergon. Cross fire vs. rule of law, corruptions vs. good governance, pro-liberation vs political opponents and so on hall mark of our rulers.
Of course there is no quick fix but a long term vision with compatible short term objective and above all ‘real intention’ can quickly fix this and many other issues.
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No government will be able to bring down the crime level at 0% which is understandable but what they can do is to take some steps to minimise the crime, like the way FBI does. Unfortunately not a single effective step has been taken to reduce the crime since AL government formed. We may keep arguing about FBI & CIA activities and writing thousands articles and posting comments in favour of our political parties but does this really help to improve the situation? If you guys really worried about BD, why not asking your favourite party government that, what action they are going to take to bring the law & order in shape or do they have any intension to do so?
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It certainly is surreal seeing (through the media lens) the chappal on the other foot.
Pondering over the asian highway
Mineral extraction
Trying to extinguish violent criminality
Civil Service intrigues
what would be helpful, i think, is if the public sphere itself could mature the debate, hold some memory and explore the social issues. Development industry Suchilism does complicate matters but i really believe is greater amount of public moral vernacular is dignified, distilled and followed through, things will move on.
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I think most law and order violations these days are being committed by AL affiliated goons and so called student league-ers.
Professional criminals not affiliated with AL have gone underground.
But the best news is that no significant AL leader has so far been accused of patronizing known criminals and godfathers and Sheikh Hasina appears to have taken a strong stance against this issue.
In the past political patronage built up feared mastans who had little regard for the law of the land and the law enforcement agencies.
Since it’s inception RAB forces have had many successes in catching criminals and preventing crime but the crossfire issue has tarnished their somewhat but overall RAB enjoys strong support among the public.
But things looking are looking up, AL had to deal with some significant crises after coming to power and were somewhat clueless for the first few months. Now they seem to be back on track and concentrating on building up power and communication infrastructure which are the main requisites for the growth of our economy.
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