Minister said Cross-fire Will Continue: Nation Outraged
Eminent citizens on Sunday termed outrageous shipping minister Shahjahan Khan’s statement that extrajudicial killings would continue until terrorist activities and extortion were uprooted.Some of them also demanded immediate removal of Shahjahan from the cabinet.Answering a question at the BBC’s Bangladesh Sanglap at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Saturday, Shahjahan said, ‘No government wants to continue with extrajudicial killings. But we need to understand the reality. There are incidents trials of which are not possible under the laws of the land.’Former editor of the Bangladesh Today, M Asafuddowlah, also a former secretary to the government, termed the statement of the minister a farce.‘Such farce can only come out of the mind of a barbarian…These are [reflections of] a pervasive psyche and totally insensitive to the rights and dignity of human beings,’ Asafuddowlah told New Age on Sunday.‘How can a government take away a citizen’s fundamental right – his right to live – which is guaranteed by the constitution of the state,’ he wondered.No one can delete these rights…It is sheer perversity of mind, he said adding ‘the givers of such statements should be excoriated in public.Former adviser to the caretaker government ASM Shahjahan, also former inspector general of police, said, ‘Any killing in ‘crossfire’, ‘encounter’ or in custody amounts to murder absolutely.It is the duty of the law enforcers to protect human rights and life of every citizen in general and any person in custody in particular, he said.If any person is killed in custody, the law enforcers, under whose custody the person was, have to shoulder the responsibility. No right thing can be done in a wrong way,’ he added.He also observed, ‘Under no circumstances, an extrajudicial act can help establishment of rule of law.Former adviser to the caretaker government, Sultana Kamal, also executive director of rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra, demanded a clarification from the government on whether Shahjahan’s views reflected its stand on the issue.‘It must be taken seriously because a responsible minister made the comments. If the government, which promised zero tolerance to extrajudicial killings, does not come up with a clarification, we have to consider that it is the stand of the government itself,’ she saidRights activist Shahdeen Malik, also a Supreme Court lawyer, demanded immediate removal of Shahjahan from the cabinet.Dhaka University professor Asif Nazrul also demanded removal of Shahjahan from the cabinet.‘The statement is nothing but a complete betrayal of the election manifesto of his party, in which the party categorically promised to stop extrajudicial killings.The statement proves that the government does not have even the slightest respect for democratic values, rule of law and human rights. It is an irony that people like Shahjahan are elected as public representatives,’ he added.Rights organisation Odhikar’s general secretary Adilur Rahman Khan, also a Supreme Court lawyer, said Shahjahan’s remarks proved that extrajudicial killings were going on unabated with the government’s sanction.‘The continuation of extrajudicial killings, in which already 1,142 people have been killed since June 2004, proves that such killings can neither improve law and order nor uproot terrorist activities and extortion.’
We are equally shocked at this statement. We fully support the views of the se senior citizens of the country. The example of the action of the past government is no justification in this matter.This government has come to power promising that they will stop extra-judicial killing. We ask the government to immediately stop this heinous act which does not produce any result except creating ground for more killing and and more abuse of power by some elements.
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