Editorial
Death, hardly a matter for casual remark!
Such an utterance can only erode government's credibility
WHILE the family and friends of the slain Dhaka University student Abu Bakar have been mourning his untimely demise, the comments of the home minister Shahara Khatun came as a rude shock to all of us. One wonders what prompted her to say that it was an isolated incident and suggest that such things could happen anytime? Her remarks may have been construed to make light of a tragedy in which a whole family is reeling and the nation left shocked. This is completely out of sync with her position as the home minister.
A number of student organisations, especially Bangladesh Chhatra League, have been acting in a reckless manner in the public universities and colleges for the last one year, mostly in relation to controlling construction and business tenders, admission and allotment of dormitory seats. The signs of the campuses becoming restless over these issues were there and media have been diligently reporting on professional agitators and armed goons visiting student hostels and flexing muscles. Those reports and government agency intelligence reports should have prompted timely action on the part of the law enforcing agencies. But, to be candid, we have not heard of any ground-shaking steps taken by the government to contain the situation before it blew up in its face. To our utter dismay, what we find is irresponsible comments from none other than the home minister.
No, we do not believe that the death of Abu Bakar should be treated as an isolated incident. It must be thoroughly investigated and those found responsible exposed and brought to book. Irresponsible utterances have a way of not only feeding impunity culture but also of derailing investigation. We must beware of this.
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