Increasing budgetary allocation for improving law and order

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M Mizanur Rahman
Most of the participants in TV talk show programmes on the abduction of Ilias Ali said they were anxious about their own safety. The political leaders, including those from the ruling party, were also found to be visibly worried and embarrassed. Many said that it is a threat to the flourishment of democracy in the country. Many claimed that the people were victims of narrow partisan politics.
Again, many people, especially from the ruling party, opined that Ilias Ali may have been abducted for some of his other personal involvements. None of these claims can be ignored; but the truth is that a political leader has been abducted and his family is suffering from terrible uncertainty. Abduction is perhaps more frightening than killing. The pain the family is bearing now is indescribable.
The media and the opposition leaders are pointing out that there has been an increase in the rate of abduction in the country. Such sorts of activities cannot be tolerated in a democratic country and the law enforcing agencies cannot deny their responsibilities in any way. People have given their mandate to one of the largest political parties of the country which has a long political history and there are indeed many tested and experienced leaders in the party who fought for the country and guided it under the stewardship of the Father of the Nation. But the indifference and lack of visible actions on the part of the government to such ominous activities appears indeed puzzling. The people, however, still believe that the police can do its job far better if there is no political interference in such incidents, especially by the ruling party.
When many countries have banned capital punishment even for a murderer or a serious criminal, in our country such crimes are increasing alarmingly. In Islam, the state religion, capital punishment is permissible to make others frightened so that they do not dare commit similar crimes. But what are we observing here? Death or abduction is making the people increasingly frightened and the authorities barely talk sense and take appropriate actions.
Alarmingly, both of the main political streams are found to be equally vindictive to each other. But everyone should know where to stop. All have freedom, many have the power to do many things and say many things but all need to know the terminal point where to stop.
In any democratic system, power is not absolute and the endeavours of the ruling party should be to work for the people and also allow freedom to the people to take their decision about whether they like to continue with one regime or change the regime. They should be given absolute freedom to choose and there is nothing to restrict, nothing to force. But unfortunately, our political leaders forget this and whenever they come into power, they try to perpetuate themselves in power with force, and not with service to the nation. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did the same mistake earlier and had to pay through the nose. Is not the current ruling party - the Awami League (AL) - doing the same them more vigorously? The nation is so wretched that our political leaders do not learn from the past.
The prime minister has some charismatic traits for which the people admire her. Many people love her and her family for their dedication to the country. The people made her prime minister twice. She has also to her credit a good name in the international arena. But after the murder of Sagar and Runi, when she said that the government cannot guard everyone's bed room, the people felt utterly frustrated. The common people of the country who voted her want to hear words of optimism from her. When she proclaims her determination to fight against all sorts of militancy, people feel secure; when she proclaims to punish the war criminals, people feel proud of her righteousness to uphold the glory of the war of liberation; but when she makes such comments that her government is not supposed to guard the bedrooms of the citizens, it frustrates the people.
This scribe would not like to go into the details of the bedroom safety of every people but what about the recent MP hostel incident-- one of the most secure places of the country where the policy-makers live? A thirty-year old woman was found dead after six days in the MP hostel. Will her family get justice for this killing? We know that behind every killing, there is a story but can we, even the media, know that particular story? If one gets killed in our home, we are the ones to be held as primary suspects, and here also, whether the MPs live there or not, they should be made responsible for the extremely unbecoming occurrence. The people would like to know the story behind this killing.
We all love to talk about development and prosperity of the country but no development can ever be possible without the security of the lives of the citizens. When people suffer from insecurity and are not sure about their normal death, what does development mean to them?
During the recent days, there have been a number of killings in the country but unfortunately the causes of none of such killings have been unveiled by the law enforcing agencies. Now, there may be two things that can be done. One, government needs to be sincere about preventing such crimes and two, the law enforcing agencies should be strengthened both in number and quality.
The country's next annual budget is knocking at the door. The government should invest some additional money for strengthening the capacity of the law enforcing agencies. It is better now to partly cut the development budget and invest the money to ensure safe and secure lives of the people. Some initiatives through the budget need to be taken so that no one is killed illegally or extra-judicially. In order to fulfil this need, the strength of police and other agencies should be increased and skill-development training should be provided for their capacity building. Finally, they should be allowed to work independently. However cynical it may sound, it is a stark reality that the common people of this country are now less concerned about the country's economic growth indicators; rather they want to have the assurance that they will have a normal death, that they will be buried properly and prayed for by the family, friends and relatives..
(The writer is a development researcher and works for an international organisation. mithunmds07@gmail.com)