Extrajudicial killings must not return

With the overthrow of the Awami League regime, courtesy of the July-August uprising, people started believing that their life or death would no longer be decided by some petty security personnel as was very frequently done during the past one and a half decades. But contrary to their expectations, they had to see the shocking death of a young man while in custody of law enforcement agencies. Quoting ISPR, this paper reported that Touhidul Islam, a Juba Dal leader in Cumilla, was detained a week ago in an operation of the joint forces based on specific allegations. Later the police took him to Cumilla Medical College Hospital with injuries allegedly caused by security forces. Family members claimed he was tortured to death, and physicians also found torture marks on his body.

Such an unlawful killing goes completely against the rule of law and the spirit of the July-August uprising. It is also a serious violation of human rights. Given the gruesome incident, people are worried about the likely revival of the culture of extrajudicial killing that was promoted and put into practice by the immediate past regime to suppress rival political forces aimed at perpetuating its tyrannical rule. People strongly condemned the incident. Actually no sensible person having the least human values can accept such acts of barbarism that terrorise people and tarnish the image of the nation.

Strong criticism and condemnation of Touhidul's murder continue to pour in. The interim government denounced the ghastly incident. The Chief Adviser's press wing said in a statement that the interim government unequivocally condemns all forms of custodial torture and murder. It may be mentioned that abolition of extrajudicial killing once and for all was one of the core issues that propelled the anti-autocracy movement and led to the overthrow of the Hasina regime and formation of the interim government. Upholding human rights in every sphere of national life is a primary mission of this government, the statement asserts. The government has ordered for an urgent investigation into the killing incident.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir condemned the incident and demanded justice for the killing. Another BNP leader said the extrajudicial killing occurred in the manner it did during the previous AL government. He considers it a part of conspiracies against the country and the interim government. He seems to be right in his assumption; it is not unlikely that certain quarters inside and outside the administration are constantly conspiring to further destabilise the socio-political situation and discredit the interim government at home and abroad.

Custodial torture and killing are the vilest forms of abuse of power and outright violation of the right to life. The people of the country and the world around witnessed widespread use of the crimes by the deposed regime not only against its political opponents but also against the common people. Innumerable people lost their lives during the savage AL rule. The dreadful memory of arbitrary arrests, picking up of people from homes or streets by security forces, enforced disappearance, torture and unlawful killing during the entire period of Hasina's rule still haunts the countrymen.

People once picked up by known and unknown forces in most of the cases did never return home; later on they were found only in morgues or nowhere at all. What was initially directed against drug peddlers and other petty criminals was later diverted to suppressing opposition political forces. Whatever be the identity of the detained persons, they have the right to protection of law. But most of the victims were denied the legitimate rights. The Amnesty International reports that 52 people were killed within just the first 10 days of launching of the anti-narcotic drive by Hasina government in 2018. In the same year, human rights organisations have reportedly documented 466 such deaths, which was more than three times as many as recorded in 2017. The tyrannical regime's extermination spree assumed an unquenchable proportion during the July-August 2024 mass uprising. It killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the last few days of her stay in power. It is also alleged that she even ordered army and other law enforcement agencies to indiscriminately shoot agitating masses to prolong her misrule.

Tyrants always refuse to learn from lessons of history that imprisonment or brutal torture, maiming or grisly bloodletting cannot perpetuate their barbaric rule. German dictator Hitler killed millions of Jews civilians and other progressive minded people in his own country but had to kill himself at last. Neither could Mussolini, Francisco Franco nor any other tyrant cling to power for an indefinite period. All such blood sucking vampires were swept away by history. Hasina forgot the important lesson. The result is for everyone to see: her misrule only invited hatred from all corners that hastened its downfall. Now she and all her cronies are leading disgraceful and fugitive life or are languishing in jails.

The people of Bangladesh have suffered immeasurably under Hasina's tyrannical and dictatorial rule. They do not want to see the revival of the savage culture of abduction, enforced disappearance and unlawful killing. The whole nation is united on this question. The interim government and political forces must unite with the entire population to resist the return of the nightmare. Bringing a lasting end of the misrule based on use of brutal force against the people should be an important agendum of the present and future governments. Stringent punishment to those who were involved in the killing of Touhidul as well as the perpetrators responsible for the genocide during the Hasina regime may help prevent revival of the most despicable practice. A lenient attitude to those responsible for the killings is unlikely to deter blood-thirsty monsters from raising their heads and committing similar crimes.

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