Weak judiciary, Paramilitary forces with magisterial power, Political leadership serving vested interests, Civil society and citizenry fragmented along party lines - Together, all these signal toward something ominous, something evil!
Democracy after all is nothing but yet another method of transferring power to govern. In Bangladesh, like many other developing and impoverished countries, the populace are too illiterate to understand the importance of strong institutions for establishing democracy. They love to vote but at the same time they identify political groups based on faces and not manifestos. This dichotomy means a generation of political leaders despite their appalling records and dubious reputation could prey upon the sentiment of the people to repeatedly return back to power. The military, like many other countries with similar blight, is the single most powerful group, where civil groups on most of the times are at each others' throat for realizing vested interests. This gives the military opportunity to grab state machinery to further enhance its political, social and economic clout.
In this backdrop, during the term of last BNP government, a paramilitary group was formed taking personnel from both military and police forces. "To improve the law & order situation" - was the much publicized reason behind. The force was further bolstered by formulating laws that give them virtual impunity. Much infamous extrajudicial killing was brought to the fore as a tool of maintaining order! The wider gentry despite the dark and ominous signals, chose to keep blind and clapped hands at the suppression of few known terrorists. The force got further reinforcement from home and abroad by ruthlessly putting down the common enemy home-grown Islamic terrorism. But, amidst the blur, everyone forgets to denounce the heavy handed approach that became their modus-operandi. People with known criminal records started to disappear only to be found as dead later on. Intermittently, there were a few apparently innocent ones who fell victim to the brutal machinery of state. But, no one except their close ones paid heed, as people accepted them as collateral damage! And, the disappearances and killings continued. Now, came a new turn to the event, when political figures from opposition block starts to disappear. After all, power is seductive and power without accountability is nothing short of a Frankenstein! So, everyone is now asking, who should be blamed!
Now, decide for yourself, was it inevitable????
Democracy after all is nothing but yet another method of transferring power to govern. In Bangladesh, like many other developing and impoverished countries, the populace are too illiterate to understand the importance of strong institutions for establishing democracy. They love to vote but at the same time they identify political groups based on faces and not manifestos. This dichotomy means a generation of political leaders despite their appalling records and dubious reputation could prey upon the sentiment of the people to repeatedly return back to power. The military, like many other countries with similar blight, is the single most powerful group, where civil groups on most of the times are at each others' throat for realizing vested interests. This gives the military opportunity to grab state machinery to further enhance its political, social and economic clout.
In this backdrop, during the term of last BNP government, a paramilitary group was formed taking personnel from both military and police forces. "To improve the law & order situation" - was the much publicized reason behind. The force was further bolstered by formulating laws that give them virtual impunity. Much infamous extrajudicial killing was brought to the fore as a tool of maintaining order! The wider gentry despite the dark and ominous signals, chose to keep blind and clapped hands at the suppression of few known terrorists. The force got further reinforcement from home and abroad by ruthlessly putting down the common enemy home-grown Islamic terrorism. But, amidst the blur, everyone forgets to denounce the heavy handed approach that became their modus-operandi. People with known criminal records started to disappear only to be found as dead later on. Intermittently, there were a few apparently innocent ones who fell victim to the brutal machinery of state. But, no one except their close ones paid heed, as people accepted them as collateral damage! And, the disappearances and killings continued. Now, came a new turn to the event, when political figures from opposition block starts to disappear. After all, power is seductive and power without accountability is nothing short of a Frankenstein! So, everyone is now asking, who should be blamed!
Now, decide for yourself, was it inevitable????
