The stitch that wasn’t made in time

In a brief social interlude, a former Inspector General of Police who was in service at time, was quietly confident in saying 'it isn't possible to investigate all crimes in a country of 160 million people'. Alarming as that may sound it was a frank statement, reflective of reality. In between the maze of processes in investigation and the judicial process, crime tends to go unpunished; thereby the increasing penchant for violence. Laws are there to provide justice in wrongdoing and act as a dissuading element. That it doesn't usually work that way is due to the unsavoury combination of political interference, unfair use of authority and the subsequent graft that invariably comes in, essentially to make up for poor wages and the 'cost' of getting posting by the law and order agencies.

The horrific attack on Dr. Zafar Iqbal may have created sensation, as did the ones on publisher Dipon, author and teacher Humayun Azad, the young Tonu from Comilla and the journalist couple Shagor and Runi, but so far the end-result remains the same. Justice hasn't been served. These attacks are no different from the ones encountered by the general public be it in remote areas or the cities. CCTV footage was instrumental in identifying the Holy Artisan bakery massacre culprits but not in capturing those responsible for the Pohela Boishakh molestation a few years ago. There have been several incidents where police, present at the scene were reported by the media as having been bystanders. In spite of graphic evidence available with the press, violence with deadly weapons between rival groups never really gets cracked down on.

There are those who are quick to react to certain crimes and the first reaction to Dr. Iqbal's attack was social media targeting fundamentalists trying to choke open-mindedness. This hasn't been helped by no specific comments by the police though the perpetrator was immediately apprehended by those present. In the coming days it should soon be fairly clear whether or not justice will be served. Two examples do nothing to sweep the air with confidence of any kinds. An award winning police officer, whose wife was brutally murdered was allowed to resign from service and then the trail went all cold. As long as Tonu's murder was topical all kinds of theories floated around from the rather obtuse comment that 'a bear did it', to post-mortems that couldn't decide anything and even the then Chief Justice's comment that 'this was a case that required superior technology' to solve.

The sudden 'disappearances' of individuals, their just as sudden re-appearance and then a cold silence doesn't make for clear and clean justice. Those who have returned from being abducted don't file any cases raising questions that never penetrate the silence.

The attack on Dr. Zafar Iqbal has to be investigated and acted on and not just because the Prime Minister has said as much. The police know their job. It's time they did it.

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