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How we can stop communal riots

Tayeb Husain from Lund, Sweden | Monday, 27 January 2014


It is very painful to hear about communal riots in Bangladesh. Riots are crime and it is much heinous when it is of communal type. Millions of people were killed in Hindu-Muslim riots during Partition and there seems no end to this criminality in the subcontinent even today.
Reasons for these riots are political and economic but criminals put "religious and cultural attire" on these.
Rioting after the farcical election of January 05 is highly political. But why do they attack these innocent people? Because, they are Hindus? Does Muslim religion permit waging riots against anybody? And why don't they attack their poor Muslim opponents? We know, they do that too but why so fiercely when the targets are Hindus?
Is it impossible to find out the culprits who wage riots? Can't the ordinary people, say a small shopkeeper or a primary school teacher of the riot-affected area, tell you about the people who waged riots after the January 05 election? Or, aren't there people who can tell us exactly about the people responsible for Ramu riots of September 2012?
But it is politics and political considerations that make it impossible to bring the culprits to justice and punish them so that they never commit such offence in the future. Take the case of Ramu riots of September 2012. The government arrested 300 people but no proper action has been taken as yet. Let us now consider a few actions that government can initiate to stop communal riots:
a) A riot prevention committee for each Union Parishad and in each ward in a town and city: This committee will be responsible to find out the criminals who instigate and take part in riots. School teachers of each Union Parishad could be members of fact-finding committees and they may work in close cooperation with local administration such as Union Parishad Chairman, O.C of local police station, Upazila chairmen and the Upazila nirbahi officer to identify culprits and the instigators.
b. Local administration as preventers and protectors of riot victims: The local administration will not only be the protectors of riot victims but active preventers of riots and should be responsible for any riot under its administration.  
c. Community punishment for riots: The most effective weapon for riot prevention will be community punishment. Everybody in an area where riot occurs shall be held responsible and community punishment could be a weapon to combat riots.
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