Editorial
Right to travel
Arbitrary prevention without legal basis at the airport must stop
WE have occasionally seen important dignitaries including political leaders and functionaries of the former government being prevented at the airport from travelling abroad in an arbitrary fashion without any legal basis. Some even had produced clear court ruling allowing them to leave the country, and yet, they were attempted to be barred. The latest case in point is Hasan Mahmud Tuku, a former state minister for power who had a court ruling allowing him to embark on a journey.
It is only upon a contempt petition filed with the High Court by the former state minister and as the concerned officials were due to appear before the court to explain their position that he was allowed to travel and his lawyer consequently withdrew the contempt petition. Better late than never; the issue has been settled but not without leaving a sordid message again.
What could be the rationale behind encroaching upon a very fundamental right of a citizen, that too in breach of HC ruling, is incomprehensible to us. It is not merely question of a dignitary not being allowed to leave the country -- it is a reflection of a warped attitude to a citizen's freedom of movement. Such an arbitrary step by officials of an elected government can in effect bring democracy and the rule of law into disrepute.
Invariably nobody is held to account for such aberrations. It has to be found out under whose instructions the immigration officials acted the way they did in case of the former state minister. Or did overzealous officials act on their own? It was none of their business to offload a man from the aircraft despite his showing an HC ruling in his favour.
What we notice, with a sense of consternation, is that no change is visible insofar as dealing with political adversaries is concerned. But change is something that this government promised so vociferously before the last general election. We feel that a change in political culture, which must include the norms and values guiding the relations between rival parties, should precede all other changes as a matter of principle.
The authorities concerned have to probe the whole thing and find out why there are blatant attempts to stop dignitaries from going abroad. Rule of law should not be a matter for interpretation, or misinterpretation, to be precise, by government functionaries. Violation of citizens' rights in any form or context must come to an end.
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