“Crossfire”
We express our grave concern over the killing of two students of polytechnic in a so-called “Rab encounter”. As reported, they were picked up by Rab personnel from their college hostel and held incommunicado somewhere. It has made headline once again, and a wave of fresh criticism of the latest killing in “crossfire” is coming from all sections of society.
It's beyond the comprehension of common people that after being arrested, how they countered the law enforcers, or were going to be such a threat that Rab had to resort to a measure like “firing back to protect themselves”. Believe me or not, this excuse is not as believable to us as lullabies to the children. In a democracy, it cannot continue year after year.
It is true we should give applause to Rab for some heroic operations, especially those storming of militant hideouts. But now it is cause for concern of any conscious citizen that it might persist and be allowed in the name of “encounter” and “crossfire”.
Certainly, when in the opposition the AL was critical of these types of extra judicial killings by law enforcement agencies and putting an end to such killings was in their election manifesto. Look the gamekeeper is now the poacher!
To put it mildly, we smell a rat in those so-called “crossfire” or “encounters”. Monosyllabic description of the actions is too preposterous and does not care for a grain of credibility. Speculation has reached such a pitch, that it needs a clarification from the government.
The culture of impunity for any law enforcement agency is incompatible with the idea of democracy.
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