War criminals
Five of the killers of Bangabandhu and his family members were hanged finally, although some of them are still at large. There's been a clear message on the way forward that killers and criminals can be booked, and it can happen in Bangladesh. Now, the journey begins for the booking of the war criminals.
There can be a clear articulation of preferences in Bangladesh. Once what was thought to be impossible is now possible. Yes, we've now a public leadership to speak about the injustices; we've now a leadership that can take action. Bangladesh is taking temperatures, and now, we want to see some twisting arms.
We don't want to listen to speeches only where the ruling party says they'll never stop fighting on booking the war criminals but want to see some concrete actions. We don't want to see our statespersons technically refuse to throw a real punch for organising the trial of war criminals.
Many of the ruling party stalwarts are giving interviews where they seem to endorse the initiative back and also seem to argue against doing anything of the kind that led the war criminals get a free go. But early leaks suggest that the government is yet to decide. Do they lack in confidence? The hanging of five killers suggests they don't.
Now, the nation is looking for actions to see the murderers hanged who had killed their kith and kin nearly four decades back. Please, focus on this, and then, we'll understand that our country is run by the rule of law, not by economic or diplomatic interest only.
Depending on what they think will happen, some bring up two threadbare situations. The first is Sheikh Hasina's tendency to patiently let the interest of the supporters subside before attempting to really hold the trials.
We saw this in the last twelve months. We saw it after the February mayhem, and Sheikh Hasina was holding her firepower in reserve. Some, however, point to a very different situation.
Sheikh Hasina, they say, has not shown herself to be a fighter for her policy commitments. Her posture as a national figure was defensive.
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