A quiet but eloquent protest

What was special about the Friday's rally is that the demonstrators made their point without causing any disruption to public life. It was, like the human chains organised in recent times, a welcome departure from the showdown-prone protestations. It was also a homage to the man who always believed in the rule of law and constructive politics.

The message of the demonstrations is two-fold. First, there was the emotional outpouring which showed the depth of the wound left by the Habiganj killings on the public psyche. People could not accept the fact that a dignified politician had been murdered by the forces of intolerance. Second, they have appealed to the government to catch the killers and punish them. Only justice can bring some solace to the aggrieved.

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The government's compulsion to succeed in the investigation is overwhelming. It is more than a question of meting out justice; for, the government has to respond in a result-oriented way to the popular demand based on cumulative outrage over past investigations stumbling at every step. The decision-makers can ill afford to keep on telling us that investigation is going on. People want a credible breakthrough in apprehending the stealthy grenade throwers who threaten to destroy democracy and all other decent things in our political arena. We believe there are two more questions that need to be addressed as part of the inquiry: First, why the regulation emergency treatment could not be given to Kibria at Habiganj. Second, why a helicopter could not be sent to bring him to Dhaka thereby reducing the odds against his survival?