Editorial
Prime Minister's call to Leader of the Opposition
Irresponsible utterances can only undercut BDR investigations
PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina's call to Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia makes sense. It was rather surprising for the nation to know from Begum Zia the other day that the killers of the BDR officers were foreign spies and hired from outside. Sheikh Hasina has responded by asking Begum Zia that if she has any evidence to back up her point of view she should provide it to the probe bodies now at work on the BDR tragedy. There can be no denying that the killing of the army officers on February 25 has left the nation traumatised and we will all remain in the dark for as long as we are unable to delve into the roots of the conspiracy behind it. The country now expects Begum Zia to respond to the Prime Minister's request and come forward in aiding the process of investigation in any way she can.
Having said that, we can only register our grave discomfiture and displeasure at any and all irresponsible comments that have been and are being made about the BDR tragedy. All quarters, including the media, should apply discretion in any assessment of the tragedy. And at a time when every effort is required to ensure a speedy and absolutely foolproof investigation of how matters got out of hand on February 25, we must remind everyone (and that importantly includes political leaders) that the inquiry cannot be allowed to be influenced or undermined in any manner whatsoever, even unwittingly. All subjective assessments of the situation can only slow down, perhaps even undercut the entire purpose of the investigations. Let no one forget that the whole nation is waiting keenly to see those who perpetrated such a heinous crime identified. And that will be possible only if the investigations take their own, natural course. Obviously, a very big need today is for the political quarters to resist any temptation to bring narrow partisan politics into the picture as a way of gaining mileage. Anyone who tries that (and it does not matter what brand of politics he or she believes in) will be conducting the business of politics in sheer bad taste.
Let no one understate the grave crisis we are passing through. We have lost some of our brave soldiers through a well laid-out plot that certainly must be unearthed. More importantly, we realise that national unity with the objective of ensuring the survival and success of democracy is today called for. The people need to come together. Given such bare, unassailable truths, it should be the prime concern of all that no one demonstrates a cavalier attitude to the BDR issue. All of us have a common stake in the investigations leading to a conclusive outcome, with the truth finally and firmly established.
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