Editorial
Parliamentary probe into DGFI
excesses needed
THE allegation of torture that Awami League general secretary and lawmaker, Abdul Jalil, levelled against the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence during a parliamentary debate on Thursday tends to reinforce public perception that the intelligence wing of the army works beyond its mandate more often than not and that its excesses reached an unprecedented height during the tenure of the immediate-past military-controlled interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed. Over the 23 months or so of the interim administration’s rule, similar accusations were articulated, albeit not always in public for fears of further harassment, by a cross-section of people – politicians, businesspeople, teachers, students, journalists and what have you. There were also instances, reported and not reported, where the DGFI resorted to intimidation tactics such as unsolicited telephone calls in its attempt to make the media, both print and electronic, fall into the interim government’s line. The newspapers were subjected to unwritten advisories as to which news items they could carry and which they could not, while the private television channels were told, categorically, whom they could invite to the talk-shows and whom they could not, what programmes they could air live and what programmes they could not. Besides, it was never any secret that the DGFI played an active role in the interim government’s infamous and eventually abortive attempt at redrawing the country’s political landscape by relegating the frontline leaders of the existing political establishments into political irrelevance.
The DGFI was commissioned with a view to keeping a tab on the members of the armed forces. However, over the years, and not least at the behest of successive governments – elected or unelected, democratic or authoritarian – it has widened its ambit of work into the domain of civilian population. Opposition politicians and dissenting voices in society have particularly been its prey. Allegations of its excesses, including even physical torture, have been galore. In such circumstances, it is refreshing that a lawmaker, that too of the ruling party, has raised the issue in the parliament. The treatment that the DGFI allegedly afforded to Abdul Jalil is shocking, to say the least. If a former minister and lawmaker were treated in such a disdainful manner, one can only shudder at the thought of the tribulations of an ordinary citizen in a similar situation.
The allegation, comes as it does from a front-ranking leader of the ruling party, certainly warrants active consideration from the government, especially the prime minister as the person in charge of the defence ministry. As has been demanded by Abdul Jalil, there should be a parliamentary probe into his allegation, and also similar allegations raised by different people at different times. If such probe leads to conclusive evidences, the DGFI operatives found guilty of excesses should be punished exemplarily and prohibitively. Meanwhile, as the AL leader has suggested, the parliament needs to devise means to limit DGFI operations and make sure the military intelligence unit does not overstep its mandate in the future. It is imperative for the benefit of both the armed forces and the people.
A gruesome crime
WHILE the people were waiting for some improvement in law and order, even if of a cosmetic nature, to take pace under the new government, a shattering blow has been dealt to any such expectation. A gruesome crime has been perpetrated at Lalbagh in the old city sending a new wave of panic among city-dwellers and forcing the outraged businessmen and traders of the locality to shutter their establishments and come out to the street in angry protest. Ali Asgar, a phone-fax dealer of the area, was presumed killed by murderers who have not been identified although involvement of some friends of the victim is suspected. Details of the atrocities committed upon the victim of the presumed murder are blood-curdling. Apparently, the victim’s body was chopped up into more than 14 pieces. The dismembered limbs of the victim were recovered by the police in a daylong drive over a wide area although the head and hand were not yet recovered.
The grisly operation of dismembering the victim’s body, packing the dismembered limbs in several wrappers and then depositing the limbs in several places, makes the crime far more sickening than an ordinary murder. One wonders whether the motive was simply removing an individual or to strike fear in the minds of others and send a message to the law enforcers and government and family members of the victim. This is a challenge not only for the law enforcers and the government but also for the criminologists and criminal psychologists of the country.
The incident reminds us of a similar crime committed a few years ago at Sutrapur in old Dhaka in which the victim’s body was sliced and disposed of in a similar manner. After public outcry an investigation was held which revealed that two sons of a female ward commissioner of the locality with their killer squad were involved. The female ward commissioner was linked to the ruling party. We are not making any insinuation here or suggesting any analogy but only recollecting a comparable incident as such crimes linger in memory longer than ordinary murders. We urge that a thorough investigation be held and the thugs be tried and punished so that the people’s sense of security can be restored. Whether the murder results from extortion should also be looked into. For a long time, it has been alleged that small traders are at the mercy of extortionists and have no escape from them. Although this is a chronic complaint, no government addressed it with the necessary firmness. The incident is a bad augury for the new government as far as law and order is concerned. Much will depend on how the government responds to incidents like this.
At a crossroads of high
hopes and huge risks
The government, with the awe-inspiring mandate of the electorate, is at the crossroads of great opening or opportunities but also of huge risks. Our past experience in the post-1991 era, since the overthrow of the despicable Ershad dictatorship, has been that the successive regimes never lost the opportunity to lose great opportunities. Perhaps, this time it will be somewhat different, writes Omar Khasru
AS THE enduring, and not quite endearing, president was about to deliver his speech to the new parliament, the lawmakers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition walked out. My co-TV viewer also walked out of the living room. For the BNP and its allies, it was a partisan, premeditated protest. For my companion, it was an expression of extreme dislike and remonstration against the indiscretion and recurring unprincipled gutless stance of Professor Iajuddin Ahmed. The president, after all, was responsible to a large extent for the January 11, 2007 debacle and two years of insufferable and distasteful rule by an army-backed interim government.
The speech was not too bad and not terribly long. It seemed like the president was involuntarily reading out loud something with which he had little inner connection. He paid homage to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maulana Bhashani, Fazlul Haque, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and four eminent leaders, victims of 1975 jail killing, in addition to freedom fighters and liberation war. The significant omission was the late president Ziaur Rahman. Half-a-sentence mention of the notable freedom fighter, former president and the founder of a major strand in Bangladesh politics would have added dignity and fairness to the customary oration. A golden opportunity to show tolerance and generosity, and foster cordial coexistence and usher in the dawn of a new day was squandered, an ample opening to mend the narrow-minded tunnel vision and holier-than-thou image of the ruling party wasted.
Sheikh Hasina, contrary to her reputation, is still unusually quiet, and remarkably restrained. As I indicated elsewhere earlier, you almost feel that the other shoe is about to drop and, sooner or later, she will resort to her customary torrent of tongue-lashing and barrage of verbal bashing against political opponents. The countdown to this may be rather premature. In the meantime, whether it is a genuine change of heart or she is under some invisible restraint, this statesmanlike behaviour is most welcome.
Then came the sordid and tarnished upazila elections. A sizeable portion of the goodwill and feel-good attitude of the electorate went down the drain. It is not necessary to rehash the rampant and brazen vote rigging, ballot box stuffing and the government ministers, lawmakers and influential ruling party henchmen improperly and unscrupulously influencing the election outcome. There is a narrow window of opportunity to contain the damage, recoup bit of the lost honour and restore a semblance of credibility and standing by taking stern and exemplary actions against the perpetrators. Sooner the better and through the Election Commission to show backbone and autonomy of the commission. The easy and convenient process of judicial inquiry may not do the trick, especially since Mr Munshi, a former BNP lawmaker, was summarily sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for a similar set of infractions during the general elections. This presents another opportunity to the ruling coterie to display even-handedness and dispel the negative image by taking immediate actions.
We also have the matter of deputy speaker brewing in the cauldron. The ruling alliance with 87 per cent of the seats, far excess of the coveted two-thirds majority, can afford to be gracious and offer the symbolic but meaningful position of the first deputy speaker to the opposition that Sheikh Hasina and other Awami stalwarts had pledged. The offer should definitely have been made at the first go. Rather than the reluctant, avoid if you can, long-winded, roundabout and prolonged arduous method of constitutional amendment that the ruling party has now cooked up. Yet another opportunity ‘lost in space’ to improve the attitude and ambience in the parliament and enhance the Awami League’s standing.
Then there is the contrived controversy of seating arrangement for the small group of opposition MPs in the national assembly. This reminds me of the months wasted in deciding the shape of the table (round or square) before Paris peace talks between Henry Kissinger (US) and Lee Duc Tho (North Vietnam). This is equally ridiculous and quite unnecessary. The numbers of the ruling alliance is so overwhelming that the government can easily be generous and broadminded in seating arrangement. Let the few opposition members sit the way they prefer. This will not increase their number or diminish the influence of the ruling alliance. The speaker’s latest remarks seem to indicate that he will faithfully tow the ruling party line. Another fabulous chance to display geniality and a gracious stance wasted.
Post-election violence, including murder and mayhem, continues unabated. The situation after the 2001 elections might have been worse. But this is supposed to be the new day and, like Barack Obama, a favourable change in attitude and outlook. This obviously has not registered with the local hoodlums and Bangladesh Chhatra League goons who are respectively committing heinous crimes in the name of the ruling party and in an attempt to broaden unholy influence and toll-taking at and around public universities. The despicable acts show a degree of ineptitude, lack of control and weakness on the part of the new regime. There are easy remedies and a quick-fire way of controlling the unpleasant situation. But then it may be too much to expect, perhaps even for a Pollyanna optimist.
There are sky-high expectations from the government, elected with overwhelming and worrisome majority. One of these definitely is not for the ruling clique to amend the constitution willy-nilly with brute majority for the sake of sheer convenience and narrow partisan interests. The document must necessarily be treated as sacrosanct. The former BNP-led two-thirds majority regime did a lot of wrongs and suffered the consequences in the last general elections. One thing they did not do is to modify the constitutions for nefarious designs. Successive regimes in the past had made unnecessary inroads and caused sufficient damage to the constitution, ranging from BKSAL to state religion. The hope is despite all the loose talks about amending the sacred document for this, that or the other, it will largely be treated as untouchable.
The expectations certainly are that the regime will lower the price of essentials, control the law and order situation and reduce corruption. This is too early to tell but the initial indicators are not promising. The edible oil curtail has lowered the price of soybean oil by Tk 5 per litre when the price reduction should be to the tune of Tk 27 per litre in line with the precipitous drop in the international market. The same unholy curtail was quick to raise the price of cooking oil steeply at the very sound of international price increase. But now it is vacillating and making meaningless symbolic gestures to mollify the government and fool the people. This sort of syndicate exists in the case of other commodities as well. With the huge election mandate, it is incumbent upon the government to break the syndicates and quash their price fixing racket.
What the government can and should do right away is to reduce the price of petrol and petroleum products. The recent decrease in the price of diesel oil by a mere Tk 2 per litre after much fanfare and hullabaloo hardly serves the purpose. It does not help the farmers. It merely increases the profit margin of the irrigation pump operators. The government can save us from these meaningless and purely superficial gestures by lowering the fuel oil prices significantly, in keeping with the vertical price drop in the world market.
The average price of octane at the US pumps last week was $1.62 per gallon which translates to roughly Tk 26 per litre. The taxes in the US are modest unlike the very high rate here. Taking this into consideration and cognisant of the fluctuating nature of crude oil price, the rate of octane can easily be set at Tk 50 per litre. This immensely beneficial act will have widespread ripple effect. This will provide a much-needed boost to the moribund economy that suffered the dual whammy of economic slowdown and two years of utter mismanagement and blunders by the interminable caretaker regime.
In some cases, it is business as usual. Donor agency representatives and foreign envoys are making the usual rounds, imparting lessons on democracy and governance for sure but also ensuring that their wishes become the commands of the new regime. It is appalling and gratuitous to see Ms Reneta Lok Dessallien, the resident coordinator of the UNDP, metaphorically spreading her wings again and meeting the prime minister and prominent ministers. This is the same person who allegedly produced the phoney UN letter that led to the January 11, 2007 emergency rule and untold misery and suffering for the people. She should be declared persona non grata rather then the undeserved VIP treatment. For the sake of the honour and eminence of our country, we need to shed the unjustified and excessive influence of foreign embassy and donor agency representatives, and foreign agents.
The government, with the awe-inspiring mandate of the electorate, is at the crossroads of great opening or opportunities but also of huge risks. Our past experience in the post-1991 era, since the overthrow of the despicable Ershad dictatorship, has been that the successive regimes never lost the opportunity to lose great opportunities. Perhaps this time it will be somewhat different. We can all fervently hope and pray. Can’t we?
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