Arrest of a journalist is no  case of misunderstanding

The arrest of a journalist and a cell phone trader at midnight, Wednesday and small hours of the same night from their residences by the Detective Branch (DB) police brings back the ugly memory of similar infringements during the immediate past regime. The raid is both a violation of human rights and an infringement on the right to privacy. When people started thinking that the untimely raid of homes of journalists, political leaders of the opposition camps, activists or any citizen is a thing of the past, the culture of police/executive overreach shows no sign of ceasing to be. 

In this case, the journalist was picked up at around 12 pm and the trader at 0.3 am from their homes. Even false cases filed against journalists are reported from time to time. Attacks and killings of reporters are not uncommon in this country. Powerful quarters make journalists a target when their illegal and anti-social activities are exposed by the media. Journalism as a profession is facing serious challenges because of the elements inimical to the country's interests. But when the security and law enforcement agencies themselves abuse their power to harass, humiliate or abduct innocent people for their involuntary disappearance, a kind of Orwellian regime overshadows the rule of law and fear psychosis pervades society at large. The immediate past regime was quite infamous for this state-sponsored criminality.     

Now the important point here is, why should this foreboding sense of fear return to a country that has rejected this barbaric practice of demonic order through an uprising? There is no reason to think that the DB team that carried out the nightly invasion did so on their own. Someone superior ordered them to carry out the illegal operation. On his release from the DB custody the next morning, the journalist hinted at an adviser in the Muhammad Yunus cabinet. This is indeed a serious charge and it deserves an independent probe so that the man behind the machination is identified and punished according to the law of the land. 

If the adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is applicable to an authoritarian rule, an interim government should be miles away from any show of power. The police have suffered a trauma and were expected to learn a lesson from the setback. Even if it is assumed that old habits die hard, the police hierarchy should think twice before they raid a journalist's residence without a warrant. 

The victim has pointed accusing fingers at an adviser. This should not be taken lightly because no adviser is vested with such outrageous power. Well, the adviser has denied his/her involvement in the matter. Now that the issue has become contentious and the DB has claimed that the whole episode is a matter of a misunderstanding, it needs clarification. This argument, however, is flimsy. As a security force, it knows well enough that the naïve argument does not make the matter transparent. Such misadventure either exposes their high-handedness or naivety. The truth in this matter must prevail. In the interest of justice and professional integrity of the parties concerned, a judicial probe has to be instituted in order to indentify who are responsible for the arrests. Notably, the journalist was allowed to return home after 10 hours but not the cell-phone trader. 

Every individual's human rights are inviolable and sacrosanct. Unless one commits a crime or is suspected to have done so, the security forces have no right to infringe on those rights. The row over a scheduled press conference of the mobile business community of Bangladesh (MBCB) on national equipment identification registrar (NEIR) allegedly led to the arrest of the journalist and the trader. Serving some coterie interests as against free trade was the contentious issue, the journalist complains. The purpose was to stop the press conference scheduled to be held at the office of the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), he adds. 

If the complaint is substantial, these arrests are not a result of the mistaken identity nor a case of misunderstanding. A thorough probe will reveal the truth. Those who orchestrated the move against the journalist and the trader must be identified and awarded the punishment they deserve for subjecting the victims to harassment and humiliation. This has to be done in the interest of fairness and justice. No journalist should be victimised thus in the future.         

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com