From: Shimul Chaudhury honestdebater@yahoo.ca
Two Tragedies, Two Treatments Shimul Chaudhury
It seems that October is a month in which we Bangladeshis need to be very careful and take extra security measures to protect ourselves from possible attacks and tragedies. On 28 October 2006, on the eve of the handover of power from the BNP-Jamaat ruling alliance to the caretaker government, the Awami League chairperson Sheikh Hasina had told her party men to bring 'logi-boitha' (pole-oar) while attending her rally on that day. Her party men brought – together with logi-boitha – fire arms, knives and other lethal weapons and attacked Jamaat-Shibir people who were on their way to a Jamaat rally at a nearby place. The whole world saw how the practiced Awami hooligans beat up to death about ten Jamaat-Shibir people on the streets of Dhaka in broad daylight. (For more details, please read "In Memoriam 28 October 2006" at http://www.humanrightsinbangladesh.com/4.php)
Killing of the same nature took place on 08 October 2010. This time it was in Natore, not in Dhaka. Local BNP people had brought out a procession on the eve of a party rally to be held later on that day. Equipped with "firearms, sticks, iron rods and machetes," Awami League musclemen launched an all-out attack on the procession and started beating the un-armed BNP men. Helpless in the face of their overwhelming adversaries who were armed and well-equipped (and favored by the administration), the BNP people dispersed and ran away. The upazila chairman of Boraigram, Mr Sanaullah Noor Babu did not leave the spot. Perhaps he thought the attackers would not dare to touch him because of his popularity, influence and position. He was fatally wrong. Awami League activists mercilessly beat him on the street, while the police standing nearby did not dare to prevent the ruling party thugs from assaulting Mr. Babu. The Awami hooligans also attacked journalists who tried to take pictures or to videotape the cruelty. A number of journalists were seriously injured. Mr. Babu was writhing in pain on the street for a long time and no one dared to go near him in the presence of the Awami predators. After the Awami men left the spot, people took Mr Babu to hospital and he was declared dead soon afterward. (For more details please see "Boraigram upazila chairman killed", The Daily Star, Dhaka, 09 October 2010 at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=157755)
After the Natore tragedy, it did not take long for us to see another fatal event in a larger scale. After losing a very popular leader in Natore, the BNP central body wanted to organize a big rally in the district on 11 October 2010. However, they had to change the venue of their proposed public meeting several times, as local Awami people resolved not to let BNP hold any protest program in Natore. Wherever BNP leaders planned to have their meeting, Awami party men kept deciding to hold a counter rally "at the same location" at the same time. (For more details, please see "This is not democracy," The New Age, Dhaka, 14 Oct 2010 at http://www.newagebd.com/2010/oct/14/fb.html) Thus, being unable to hold their meeting in Natore, the BNP leaders had to organize their mass meeting in the neighboring district, Sirajganj. In their desire to organize the rally as close to Natore as possible, local BNP leaders chose a hazardous venue bordering the rail tracks at Sayedabad near Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge. However, the event turned out to be catastrophic. Five people who came to attend the rally were run over and killed by a train passing by, and several others injured. Losing their party men, the angry BNP mob set the killer train ablaze.
Despite the compelling circumstances, it was not a wise decision to plan the gathering in such a location, and the police should not have permitted them to organize it there. Nor was it of any use to burn several compartments of the train. However, it should be investigated whether this tragedy could be averted if the rail authority were cautious. Nonetheless, in my opinion, the BNP people who set the train ablaze are victims of circumstances. They are not criminals in the sense Mr. Sanaullah Noor Babu's murderers are.
Unfortunately, we see the tragedies of Natore and Sirajganj have received two different treatments from the Awami-led government. Although video footage and journalists' photographs clearly identified the murderers of upazila chairman Sanaullah Noor Babu, the police so far could not (OR DID NOT) arrest any of the prime accused. (For more details, please see "Killers still at large", The Daily Star, Dhaka, 13 Oct 2010 at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=158291). Conversely, within a short time of the train tragedy, the police arrested dozens of BNP people in connection with setting the train ablaze. This shows that the police are quite efficient to apprehend the accused; but it also suggests that the police personnel act according to the orders they receive from upstairs. Now the regime is trying to put BNP central leaders in trouble by having them sued in connection with the attacks on the train. The deceased Upazila chairman Sanaullah Noor Babu's wife, children, parents, relatives and his admirers are watching this double standard patiently and silently. Justice seems to have disappeared from today's Bangladesh. Shimul Chaudhury E Mail : honestdebater@yahoo.ca |
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