THE situation seems to be getting worse as the law enforcement authorities have not yet been able to unlock the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the organising secretary of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, M Ilias Ali. The BNP has already called and observed dawn-to-dusk general strikes on three consecutive days last week; at least three persons were killed and hundreds injured in concomitant violence.
With the BNP set to announce ‘stronger movement’ on Saturday, upon completion of its four-day ultimatum to find Ilias and the ruling Awami League having urged its leaders and activists to build a strong resistance against ‘anarchy’ by the opposition, politics looks irrevocably headed for confrontation. Suffice it to say, the people at large will ultimately bear the brunt.
In the recent past, a number of people went missing, most of them belonging to the opposition political camp and many of them found dead days after they had disappeared. The consequent sense of uncertainty and insecurity across society has only been heightened by the disappearance of Ilias.
More than ten days have gone by but the police and other law enforcement agencies have not been able to come up with any clue as to what may have happened to the BNP leader. Meanwhile, accusations have been and are being traded between the two political camps over the issue.
Put together with the failure to solve the mysteries surrounding the killings of the journalist couple — Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi — and the Saudi diplomat, the disappearance of a frontline opposition leader has put a big question mark over the government’s performance on the law and order front above anything else.
It is thus important that the government should redouble its efforts to find Ilias.
Saibal Saha
Jahangirnagar University