Editorial
The inexplicable disappearances
A thorough inquiry necessary to reveal the truth
Incidents of citizens disappearing mysteriously are beginning to cause legitimate concern in the country. Tushar Islam Titu went missing in July 2008 after he was accosted by four men and bundled into a vehicle. In June this year, Dhaka City Corporation ward councillor and BNP politician Chowdhury Alam vanished into thin air after he was kidnapped by some men, quite possibly the same group which had on an earlier occasion tried to abduct him. These two disappearances very justifiably raise the question of who abducted them and where they happen to be at present, assuming of course that they are still alive. Our worries take a much more serious dimension, however, through Ain-o-Salish Kendra informing us that as many as 22 individuals have disappeared since January this year. ASK has reason to believe, though, that the figure could be much higher. Add to the matter of the disappearances the allegations which have lately been levelled at the security agencies, particularly the Rapid Action Battalion. For its part, RAB has vehemently denied its complicity or involvement in the disappearances.
The question now arises as to who or which organization is responsible for these acts of manifestly illegal and disturbing behaviour. The question assumes greater importance because of the fact that there is at the moment a democratically elected government in the country; and by definition such a government is in the ultimate sense a guarantor of the law and individual liberty because of the transparency in governance it is constitutionally expected to uphold. If, however, citizens have disappeared at the hands of state agencies, it is an ominous sign of how not only the security of individuals will be placed at risk but also of how the government itself may be undermined from within. In a very large number of instances, cases have been filed and investigations launched to look into the disappearances as well as the death of people from 'crossfire', 'encounters' and the like. The grim reality, however, is that none of these investigations has led to any definitive conclusion because of the alleged reluctance of the authorities to pursue the cases to the full. Any investigation launched by the authorities turns out to be so feeble and lopsided and so much at variance with the reality that a number of rights organizations have simply declined to be part of any inquiries on the disappearances as well as death in 'crossfire'. The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Mizanur Rahman, perhaps speaks for all of us when he states that the manner and nature in which investigations are conducted is wrong and flawed.
We believe that a thorough inquiry into the disappearances, taking into account the identities of those involved in them, has become an imperative. The security agencies, be they the police or RAB or any other organisation, cannot simply operate in denial mode and inform the country that they have no idea about the disappearances. On a larger basis, if the government is not to see its democratic credentials take a nosedive, it is imperative that a serious and substantive investigation be launched into each and every instance of disappearance through the setting up of a judicial inquiry that must include personalities from rights organizations and go the whole length into unearthing the mystery behind the disappearances. A democratic Bangladesh ought not to become, even remotely, a throwback to those authoritarian regimes which made citizens disappear in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s. Let the Jatiyo Sangsad initiate a purposeful discussion on the issue. It is a matter of grave public interest and can be ignored only at peril to political pluralism.
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