Editorial
After the JU clashes...
Home minister must face facts and act
WE are surprised at home minister Sahara Khatun's remarks made in the wake of Monday's infighting in Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) on the Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus. It's hard to make out the purported meaning of her statement, "what am I to do, if something happens (to the contrary) in spite of my orders (for police action)?"
Is the home minister not living in the world of make-believe by saying that 'they say, Shibir elements have infiltrated into the BCL ranks' implying that the 'real BCL' is not responsible for the internecine feuds including the latest JU clashes over turf and sharing of the spoils?
Perhaps, it is due to a firm belief with her as well as other ruling party leaders that it's not the BCL but alien elements within it that are behind all the mischief. What is worse, she even tried to excuse the police's delay in timely intervention in the JU clashes. These go down as an instance of public posturing, which, at the same time, is also self-defeating.
However, reports have it that 16 BCL men have been arrested from the JU campus. We believe a proper investigation and follow up should now lead to unravelling of the truth.
In this column, we have already expressed our concern over the government's 'lack of seriousness and inaction' in the face of the excesses committed by the BCL cadres, especially in connection with the latest spate of violence on the JU campus. But we think that the home minister should rather choose her words in a way that reflects her self-confidence as well as being always abreast of the ground realities.
But after the JU fallout, what we are witnessing are not only prevarications, but also attempts at pointing to proverbial ghost in the exorcist's bag. Even if for argument's sake it is assumed that there has been Shibir infiltration in BCL, then what happens to its (BCL'S) legacy as a student body with secular traditions ultimately reflecting on the image of the Awami League?
The home minister as the one to look after the overall law and order needs to deal with the issues at hand judiciously and unfailingly in pursuit of the spirit and letter of law.
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