The indefensible crossfire
The ignominy of an intolerant and myopic establishment has not pained all citizens in equal measure and therefore, it is not unusual to find advocates and admirers of extra judicial actions like the so-called 'crossfire' as part of our politics. In fact, in the not-too-distant past, doing away with the alleged criminal physically by resorting to the so-called 'crossfire' actions was a preferred option of the law-enforcement functionaries. Reportedly, such personnel are finding it difficult to control crime and disorder without generous use of the 'crossfire' medicine.
The above suspicion acquires significance when one hears the local government minister and chief spokesperson of the ruling Awami League saying that the law-enforcement forces can no longer be allowed to resort to 'crossfire' and extra-judicial killings as a control weapon. The minister adds very candidly that democracy has been re-established and in strengthening the rule of law in our democratic society, 'crossfire' and extra-judicial killing cannot be an enforcement tactic.
Newspaper reports indicate that during the last four months there have been some deaths in this manner. The government of the day, however, is pledge-bound nationally and internationally to put a complete stop to such irregular and blatantly illegal practices. The worrying part is, how we have reached such a stage when the responsible people in the authority has, at least, implicitly admitted the use of illegal measures by state organs. Equally important would be to ensure lawful actions by the enforcement machinery.
It is not for the ordinary or naïve members of the public to take a deep look at extra judicial killings because their concern is one of immediate relief from the depredations of the local bully or the entrenched tormentor. However, a civilised government cannot be a prisoner of such damaging retrograde thoughts. A very significant aspect, which demands serious attention, is that the so-called terrorists killed in the crossfire were in fact politically patronised. As a result, there is no guarantee that such killings will produce any result.
"Operation Clean Heart" also resulted in the extra-judicial killings of identified terrorists and criminals and that too happened after only one-year of assumption of power of a civil government. The law and order or crime situation did not register much of a change for the better. In fact, extra-judicial killings have not succeeded in controlling crime anywhere in any country. Crime and terrorism do not cross the bearable limit on its own. There are always cogent and credible factors behind such abnormalities. One needs to probe into those with the concern of a protector.
If, as a civilised nation, we expect our regulatory institutions including the police to regularly brush up their professional skills then we cannot be a party to facilitating the creation of a scenario wherein one would be willing to believe that those perpetrators of crime who cannot be brought under the law have to be dealt beyond the law. Needless to mention here that in such an assumption lies the suicidal admission that the criminal justice administration of a democratic polity has failed to act and the state has forsaken one of its primary functions.
Since no right-thinking Bangladeshi would reconcile to such a scenario they have a duty to find out why some organs of the state have to resort to apparent vigilante action. The nation needs to know if law-enforcement personnel are deliberately deviating from the statutory directives in anti-crime operations.
Eulogising or praising the "crossfire actions" have created a worrying environment wherein result-oriented investigating officers are increasingly getting inclined to resort to short-cut methods to please the official bosses or the political masters. The worrisome part is the threat to put an alleged criminal or an ordinary suspect under the so-called "crossfire scenario" in order to gratify ulterior motives.
Since most crossfire deaths are not seriously pursued for establishing the suspected culpability, the culprits in the enforcement and investigative apparatus discover a macabre win-win situation in such patently illegal acts. Elements of accountability and fear recede into background and investigation by the book becomes a pathetically low priority. Professionally speaking, this is an instance of heightened jeopardy because in Bangladesh the crime fighting machinery already stands accused of not cultivating a scientific modus operandi and quite often relapsing into the untenable third-degree methods.
The question is, do we want sustained laborious action under the law to strengthen our democratic foundation or do we need rash desperate action without the cover of law? The crossfire actions, undoubtedly, do not fit in with the first proposition.
The ultimate punishment in the alleged "crossfire" appears as summary response from desperate executives of law enforcement. The legality of actions leading to such extreme action apart, any responsible citizen might like to know if in our often over-zealous anti-crime operations, we are just treating the symptoms without venturing to study and assess the objective conditions promoting criminality. We do not need sociologists and criminologists to tell us that present-day crime is a complex social phenomenon caused by a multiplicity of factors and determining culpability is an extremely mind-exacting task.
Our everyday life experience tells us that quite often the fun-seeking delinquent of yesteryears turn into uncontrollable don of the day due to the patronage of powerful quarters and the unexplained inaction of the enforcement outfit. Therefore, when deaths occur in the so-called "crossfire" some myopic elements may be satisfied but a civilised society which wishes to live by the cannons of law cannot but be concerned. The alleged deaths in "crossfire" are forestalling the benefits of thorough investigation wherefrom the citizens could have known the pathetic as yet compelling factors behind the growth and maturing of criminals, the shady role of the patrons and the alleged inertia of the regulatory units.
What we need is adequate provision of witness protection and victim support in the criminal justice administration. To make those effective we need large injection of governmental funds. Any further delay will only swell the ranks of summary-justice seekers and the admirers of vigilante action. The decapitating adversity of the victims of crime demand mainstream support of the system.
The crisis of our law and order situation has not sprouted overnight and as such the solution will not be instant. The creation of so-called composite elite force and the dubious desperado action indulged may succeed in temporarily keeping some terrorists on the run and the authorities may get some credit from unsuspecting public on this count but the real problem will remain in situ with root and branches. The residue of large-scale violations of human rights by the guardians would be a shameful and painful memory to live with. It is time to ensure an effective halt to this continuing dark episode of our enforcement operations.
Muhammad Nurul Huda is a columnist of The Daily Star.
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