Continuing arson in Natore

After the murder of a local ruling party leader who also happened to be a close relative of a deputy minister all that the people expected was that there will be an investigation and that the law would take its own course.

But that was not to be. At first, houses of several Awami League leaders and activists were torched, allegedly by ruling BNP activists. But they didn't stop there -- 31 more houses and 12 shops in a village became the next targets of arson. This even triggered an exodus of folks from the attacked village. and terrorised families of those houses. Hundreds of people spent sleepless nights under the sky with no protection extended to them. We want to know what had the local administration, both civil and police, been doing when tension was brewing between the two groups. It seems that there had been no steps to protect those who were at the risk of being targeted from the beginning. Or maybe they thought it was a natural reaction by the aggrieved supporters of the murdered leader.

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If one were to get such an impression from a comment by Deputy Minister, Ruhul Kuddus Talukder who was quoted by a leading Bangla daily on Wednesday as suggesting what else could have happened since a life has been snuffed out prematurely, could one be blamed. What was initially seen as a simple fallout of law and order situation, has become more tangled. Now, not just an inquiry in to the murder, we demand a thorough and impartial investigation into these attacks as well. The culprits should be punished with an iron hand, no matter which party or group they belong to. And lastly, we hope the local administration would immediately inform the higher authorities about the plight of the victims of arson and arrange relief for them on an urgent basis.