Tajul urges caution in using the word ‘mob’

ICT Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam yesterday commented on the use of the word “mob” as a way to question the uprising and warned everyone to be cautious, a stance that political leaders at a discussion termed a “threat”.

He was addressing a policy dialogue titled “Independence of the Judiciary and Rule of Law”, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) at the capital’s Cirdap auditorium.

“You cannot equate the fall of the Bastille with a street mugger’s mob. If any quarter attempts to question this revolution of toppling the Gono Bhaban -- or those who carried it out -- by repeatedly using the word ‘mob’, I would say that everyone should exercise restraint. This must never be done.

Tajul said Bangladesh has entered a new era. “Those creating violence on the streets without reason, engaging in criminal activities, must be dealt with strictly. But at the same time, any move to question the uprising cannot be tolerated.”

The debate was triggered during the opening remarks by CGS Executive Director Parvez Karim Abbasi, who said the country was witnessing “the rule of mobocracy” rather than the rule of law, the Prothom Alo reports.

“Social media trials are taking place. If the situation remains such that so-called ‘Tawhidi Janata’ can take the law into their own hands and there is negligence in punishing the perpetrators, then no matter how many symbolic measures are taken, the rule of law cannot be ensured.”

Jatiya Party leader Mujibul Haque Chunnu said injustice, allowed before or after an uprising, always bounces back. “The mob was allowed … and now it is consuming the government, the Election Commission, and might eventually consume the state.”

Tajul’s comments drew sharp criticism from other speakers at the event.

According to a report by the Prothom Alo, Ruhin Hossain Prince, former general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and Bazlur Rashid Firoz, general secretary of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Basad), viewed the chief prosecutor’s statement as a “threat”.

“You want the rule of law, yet you instigate the mob? This cannot go on in Bangladesh,” said Ruhin Hossain Prince.

BNP leader Nilufar Chowdhury Moni also criticised Tajul’s stance.

CGS President Zillur Rahman, who moderated the session, said, “Sitting at this table, a very important person in the government had said, ‘There is no such thing as a mob; there are pressure groups.”’

“A few days later, we saw threats against the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star,” Zillur said.

“Then we saw they stopped talking about mob. Now that they have started speaking in favour of the mob again; we fear that we may soon witness similar incidents.”