Editorial New Age 19/11/09
Govt continues to be in denial vis-à-vis extrajudicial killing
THE claim that the home minister, Sahara Khatun, made on Tuesday, that 'there has been no crossfire since our government took office', is not a bit surprising; after all, unlike some of her cabinet colleagues, e.g. the foreign minister and the local government, rural development and cooperatives minister, she has hardly ever taken a public stance against extrajudicial killing by members of the Rapid Action Battalion and other law enforcement agencies of the state. In fact, back in May, when there was a furore over the steep rise in extrajudicial killing, she along with her previous deputy, Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, came to the defence of the trigger-happy members of the law enforcement agencies, claiming that such killings had taken place when law enforcers opened fire in self-defence. Soon, the 'self-defence' theory, so to speak, caught on. Even the prime minister told a news briefing in
Ironically, the home minister's insistence that no crossfire has taken place in the past ten months or so came on the same day that the High Court issued a rule suo moto on the government to explain within 48 hours why the killing of two brothers in custody of the Rapid Action Battalion early Monday would not be declared illegal. Ironically still, she made the statement on the same day that a suspected ultra-left operative was killed in 'crossfire' during a gunfight between his 'associates' and the police in Jhenaidah. By failing to rein in some trigger-happy members of the law enforcement agencies and, most importantly, initiate any comprehensive inquiry into any of the 126 extrajudicial killings that have taken thus far, the government has not only defaulted on its pre-election promise to put an end to such killings but also put its self-professed commitment to the rule of law in the dock.
What is perhaps even more worrying is the fact that the home minister's remark smacks of defiance of the apex court. Sadly, defiance has seemingly marked the government's attitude towards the ruling of the apex court with regard to extrajudicial killing thus far. On June 29, the High Court issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks why extrajudicial killing by law enforcers in the name of 'crossfire' and 'encounter' would not be declared illegal. However, almost five months on, the government is yet to respond to the rule. On Tuesday, the deputy attorney general designated for the bench that had made the rule said 'we are yet to get comments from the government offices concerned needed to respond to the rule.'
In such circumstances, it would not be far-fetched perhaps to presume that the government may be either unable or unwilling to put an end to the pernicious practice of extrajudicial killing by law enforcers, and may not even hesitate to defy the apex court in this regard. Yet, it is imperative that such killings should stop because these not only undermine the rule of law but also weaken the state from within. Hence, as we have argued in these columns time again, it is left up to the politically conscious and democratically oriented sections of society and the media to raise their voice against extrajudicial killing by members of the law enforcement agencies and mobilise public opinion against such blatant violation of human rights. It is only by maintaining sustained social pressure that the government can be made to act decisively towards bringing an end to extrajudicial killings.
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