Crisis is political and asking to arrest killers is not solution
27 April 2016 Editorial Desk
All murders are painful and big loss to families - be it LGBT magazine editor Xulhaz Mannan and his friend gay Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy. The nation also witnessed the gruesome killing of Rajshahi University teacher Rezaul Karim Siddiquee and gun down of a jail guard this week, among many others to force people to live in panic.
Giving protection to people is the responsibility of police in ordinary circumstances but when the country's political and social stability is at stake and fast slipping out of hands, it is misleading and wrong to blame the police for failure to stop killings. Political crisis is to be met politically and through police action.
The target killings over the past few days show that the government is failing to maintain political stability. The government should be advised to deal with political instability factors.
But when the Inspector General of Police (IGP) says "Everybody should be aware of own safety. It is not possible for police to guard all houses," he is right politically. If the insecurity of life is to be taken care of by individuals then IG Police must recommend the individuals to be armed for their protection. We see the crisis as political and the responsibility is to ensure good governance.
When police say look for your own safety, people feel abandoned by the state. It portrays an anarchic situation ahead.
The US Secretary of State and other foreign leaders have strongly condemned the killing in Bangladesh but they have seen the crisis in Bangladesh from their points of view unconnected with the reality in Bangladesh. It must not be forgotten that the absence of good governance is the real crisis and killings, corruption and lawlessness are signs of political instability. The USA in the name of fighting Islamic terrorism or supporting gay movement in other countries is ignoring the importance of democracy for ending extremism.
