Corruption, politicisation breeding violence

Interestingly, three different stories hogged the newspaper headlines on the same day last week concerning interference in the law enforcement agencies, discrimination breeding violence and politicisation plaguing transportation system - all emphasising on what has become a social phenomenon.  Top police officials, National Human Rights Commission chief and social leaders complained from separate platforms that all government rules are being practised more in their violation than in compliance.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Director Bijoy Bhushan Paul admitted in one of the meetings that road safety laws were 'not enforced adequately due to shortage of staff.' Staff shortages perhaps exist in almost all government departments (while some agencies remain overstaffed). But analysts claim that laws are not enforced because of a culture of impunity and lack of monitoring and accountability and not because of staff shortage. It appears that neither enforcement nor monitoring and accountability is anybody's business. Everyone is busy passing the buck on to others without any sense of responsibility.         
The quarterly crime conference was held at the police headquarters last Thursday with Chief Justice SK Sinha attending as the chief guest and Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque presiding. Deputy Commissioners and SPs from all districts attended. Referring to the growing complaints from the SPs about feuds between ministers and lawmakers in their respective areas that affect law, IGP Hoque categorically instructed the SPs to enforce law strictly and impartially.
The police chief pointed out without naming names that the performance of 25 per cent of the SPs was 'very poor'. About performance of other SPs, he said 40 per cent was 'good' while the rest 35 per cent 'mediocre.' This picture, however, gives a grim picture of those who head the law enforcement system throughout in the country. However, sounding a warning, he pointed out: "I'll later notify those SPs with poor performance. Those who will fail to improve will face action."   
The police chief, referring to recent arrest of a Special Branch official by the RAB in Feni with Yaba pills, without mincing words, pointed out that 'many policemen' in Cox's Bazar had long been involved in Yaba smuggling 'but the SPs failed to take any action against them.'           
The warning, as reported, appears timely. But the continuous unworthy performance of the majority of the SPs even after regular quarterly scrutiny at the highest level is simply not acceptable. One can hope, the IGP will, true to his words, take strong measures against the recalcitrant police officers and save his agency from going astray.  
DISCREMINATION CAUSED BY CORRUPTION, POLITICAL PATRONISATION: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Dr. Mizanur Rahman said: "Corruption, political patronisation and culture of impunity cause discrimination which makes aggressive people violent." He was addressing a discussion on 'Civilian's duty is to stop brutality' and said one major reason of intolerance is that merit is not valued properly. "Instead of merit, a special kind of allegiance is being preferred. We should think whether this preference has any negative impacts upon the nation," he added.
On the killing of blogger Naladri Chatterjee Niloy who was 'denied the chance to file general diary by police', he requested people to come to the NHRC for such cases in future.
He said the breakdown of law and order is causing restlessness in the society. "It does not matter how many types of crime you may have committed in the country. If you can take shelter of a political party, you can rest assured because law would not touch you."   
Identical things are happening in the transportation sector. Speakers at a seminar last week said that the government's road safety initiatives fail because of political hindrance, negligence in law enforcement and lack of awareness. Besides, politicisation, poor monitoring and unsound action plan together with irregularities and extortion lead to failure of such good initiatives.
Hossain Zillur Rahman, an economist and former adviser of the caretaker government, suggested at a discussion meeting on road safety in Bangladesh that the country is actually heading backward day by bay. He felt indiscipline and chaos cannot be prevented because of political reasons. Besides, the government's decision-making needs to be structured with well-thought-out plans and backed by adequate contingencies for coordination with all relevant government agencies. This is important because lack of cooperation from relevant agencies would cause its failure.
Reading a paper, Priscilla Raj, a Brac official, informed that during January to June, 2015, 1,034 people were killed and 2,060 were injured in road accidents. It works out nearly 175 people were killed each month, perhaps a world record.
[email protected]