Editorial
Assault on Kachua land official
We are yet to see firm action which is promised often
All these reports of a deteriorating law and order situation have naturally been causing despondency among citizens. The latest that we have here is the organised assault by about 20 to 25 Chhatra League activists on the assistant commissioner (land) in Kachua upazila of Chandpur district simply because the latter tried to stop them from constructing a shop on government land. Md. Mostafizur Rahman, the official in question, was assaulted on the head badly in his office. It appears that in true lawless fashion his attackers also threatened his wife and children with dire consequences.
The question now is very simple and very stark: what are the authorities planning to do about it? For months we have heard the leading figures of the government informing the country repeatedly that whoever violates the law or takes part in criminal activity, no matter what his political affiliations are, will be dealt with under the law. Unfortunately, such platitudinous expressions of intent have not been matched by action on the ground. Now, when the authorities have little difficulty going after criminal elements from other groups and parties, it is intriguing to find that it has been unable to handle its own bad elements. In these past many months, reports of Chhatra League elements causing trouble in educational institutions and other places in various parts of the country have poured in. However, citizens are not aware of any exemplary action, if any, that has been taken against them.
We keep reporting these incidents and have been commenting on the disquieting trends relentlessly primarily because these are showing no signs of abating and also because we believe unless the government puts a brake is put on these they will neutralise, even jeopardise whatever good image it has otherwise acquired through some positive work.
Following this latest instance of Chhatra League-orchestrated violence, a leading figure of the BCL in Kachua has said if anyone in the organisation has been involved in the incident, he will be expelled. That is not good enough. We would like the government to know that unless it employs the normal methods of bringing offenders to book while dealing with the Chhatra League, all its promises and good intentions of meaningful governance will fall flat. If the rule of law is to be restored and upheld, it is important that the men who assaulted the land official be hauled up and made to face justice.
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