The great redemption
NOTWITHSTANDING his controversial experimentation with one-party Baksal rule it was Bangabandhu who gambled with his life to bring us independence and metamorphosed the course of the history of the people of Bangladesh in a fundamental way. In the process, he couldn't but clash with the vested interests, who were dislodged from their entrenched position of privilege. In the invisible war between the two in post-liberation Bangladesh the ire of the defeated elements of 1971 fell squarely on Bangabandhu and AL. The first full blast of that ire and the opening shots of the salvo aimed at the AL could be heard in the wee hours of August 15, 1975, when Bangabandhu, the nation's founding father, fell to the self-proclaimed assassins' bullets. With near precision the marauders mowed down the slain hero's entire family, missing his two daughters.
After that brutal assassination, the course of justice was blocked by the grotesque Indemnity Ordinance. When this roadblock was removed more than two decades later, the dispensation of justice then moved into a judicial tangle. Yet it goes to the credit of AL that they stuck to the highest standard of judicial procedure instead of resorting to summary disposal of the case, which would be easier and quicker.
With the surgical operation of August 15 the schemers expected that, because of the awe of the gruesome killings enacted by them, the rest of the AL leadership would simply cower in submission and its top leaders would fall in line with the conspirators. Their expectation was partially fulfilled, with the bulk of the AL leadership capitulating. The four defiant ones were, however, brutally killed later in their cells in Dhaka Central Jail. Again the perpetrators of the heinous crime went scot-free.
Justice is a universal right, which was sadly denied in the aftermath of that gory chapter of our history. The rule of the law that had been taught by the British, and which we ourselves developed an enviable tradition of pursuing, was made a burlesque of itself. When justice flounders or is even delayed it is, in the parlance of the judiciary, the denial of justice. And for the last thirty-four years we did live in darkness.
Meantime, the denial of justice and absence of the rule of the law took tremendous toll. With no deterrent to stop the criminals, crimes grew beyond any proportion. The whole polity and society were left in the hands of hardened goons and criminals. Also the faith in justice and even belief in noble human instincts started eroding.
It was against this backdrop that the whole nation waited with bated breath to hear the verdict of the Supreme Court on the Bangabandhu murder. To the great relief of the nation, the earlier verdict was upheld by the Appellate Division of the apex court, vindicating the victory of the truth. It was redemption of the rule of the law in the country at long last.
Law and order, observers say, has improved somewhat -- thanks to renewed alacrity of the law enforcing agencies -- but again at a cost. There is also a new spate of extra-judicial killings in the now infamous "crossfire." It will be our misfortune if our home minister denies its existence when we are rejoicing over the Supreme Court verdict, calling it a step towards enforcing rule of law in the country. The public is not a bunch of morons who do not understand the subtle violations of the rule of law occurring in the country almost everyday. If not now, the myriad injustices meted out to the weak and ordinary people can produce a backlash at some point of time, and our complacency over the considered verdict of the apex court will be bereft of its significance. The country will continue to be shorn of justice and fair-play unless we can guard against the travesty of democratic rule and criminalisation of politics that are surreptitiously seeping into our body politics.
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