Consequences of interim govt's indifference to law and order

The press wing of the Chief Adviser has admitted that 645 incidents of violence against members of the minority communities occurred in 2025 but it clarifies that of those 71 could be categorised as communal. Only recently did the Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed its deep concern over the rising violence against women, girls and the minorities. It also accused the interim government of its failure to protect gender equality and minority interests. President of the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Dr Fauzia Moslem points her fingers at the rising influence of religious groups and their provocative rhetoric for the shrinkage of socio-political space of women.

The HRW report mentions that in May, 2025, radical religious groups protested against the interim government's attempt to provide momentum to gender equality and women rights. Actually, it began with the unwritten dismissal of the report the Bangladesh Women's Affairs Reform Commission submitted to the Chief Adviser. There was all quiet on that front from the interim government and the religious groups came strongly against the recommendations such as equal inheritance laws and economic empowerment of women.

One thing that should not escape notice is that women and minorities find themselves at the receiving end because they are considered weaker. That women from the majority community are vulnerable to sexual violence and socio-economic discriminations is, therefore, no surprise. The weaker the segment of population is the greater its discrimination and deprivation. Such archaic equation between genders, religious communities only holds back smooth transition of society to the next level of socio-economic progress. Given the opportunities for women to realise their potential, they can contribute to the country's development. Already the small numbers of women who had support from their families and teachers have excelled in their performance in diverse fields. The same is true for the minority communities.

What ought to be rewarded is merit, not political loyalists or known faces of inferior calibre. This is the cardinal value of democracy and the concept of equal opportunities for all. The paranoid bias with intra- and inter-religious relations has to be done away with if society has to develop, safeguarding the interests of people belonging to any faith, segment of society. A divisive society based on affluence on the one hand and penury on the other cannot prosper, so is the case when the religious minorities are maltreated. Society's pluralistic values are its strength and division drags it down.

Following the July-August uprising, mob violence was on the rise. Leave alone the initial unleashing of reprisals immediately after the fall of Hasina government, what about the incidents of anarchic mob violence that followed one after another. Even the Muktijuddha Jadughar became a witness to arson. This government stood a passive onlooker to such core issues of the country's existence. Lately, the setting up of two leading newspapers on fire by mobs has laid bare the incapacity of governance. Its indifference to the rule of law has only encouraged criminals, anti-social elements and even people with no records of legal offences before to take law into their own hands. It has become almost free for all, so far as summary trial is concerned.

In an opinion survey initiated by the Prothom Alo and conducted by the Keymakers Consulting Ltd, a private research organisation, 60 per cent of the respondents think that the government has failed to address decline in the law and order; 39 per cent consider it has been successful in arresting lawlessness and one per cent is undecided. The same report carried in that contemporary has concluded that cases of robbery, theft, mugging and abduction in 2025 increased by 39 per cent over the previous year. Statistics gleaned from the police website has shown an increase of 9,732 cases in 2025 over the previous year's figure. The total number of cases filed was181,737. It is quite logical that increases in such cases translate into more crimes, although a police official claimed the number of crimes has decreased. He did not substantiate his claim.

Against such a backdrop, the attacks on women and minorities should be analysed. When criminals feel encouraged that they can go scot-free because of absence of stringent measures against crimes, there is every chance that the weaker section of society become soft targets of attackers. The important thing was to address lawlessness within a couple of months after formation of the interim government.

It failed to show its resolve to do so. The student leaders, architects of the uprising, also failed to give a good account of themselves in this respect. They should have appealed to their followers to keep watch over activities that destabilise society. Right at the moment they have to prove that their achievement was no fluke. This election is crucial for them but now that they are in the pre-election milieu, their main objective of building a discrimination-free society recedes into distant horizon. Reality is far away from political rhetoric. Much will depend on how the next elected government reacts to the reform agendas various reform commissions recommended. The fates of women empowerment and gender equality along with the religious minorities' rights also rest on the goodwill of that government.

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com