Khaleda's accusations

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia made a very serious claim in her Thursday's press briefing that in a month between December 26, 2013 and January 27, 2014, some 300 opposition activists were killed or made to forcibly disappear by the law-enforcing agencies and AL men. But she could provide the names of only five of such victims and designations of two others, including one from its alliance partner Jamaat-e-Islami, while the identities of the overwhelming majority of the rest remained unknown. Needless to say, this only made her claim lose credibility before the public eye. Worse yet, her slapdash approach towards such a serious matter supplied enough arsenal to the government to dismiss her accusations out of hand.
The question that naturally arises is what was the basis of the BNP leader's information about the victims of killing and disappearance? If she has any  details about the names and addresses of the victims those demand immediate disclosure. Otherwise, the whole exercise will look like an attempt at playing a sheer numbers  game with the plight of the victims.
The government, on its part, cannot confine its responsibility to just dismissing BNP leader's claim about atrocities said to have been  committed by law-enforcers and ruling party cadres. If truth be told,  reports of excesses committed by different arms of the law-enforcement department  abound. Given the media reports and occasional disclosures by local and international human rights bodies,  the government has little room for complacency about the issue.
So, before brushing off BNP's claim as fake,  the government  must clarify its position  about the  widespread allegations of   atrocities committed by law-enforcers against the opposition activists and members of the public.