ASK fears rise of militancy

Militancy may rise in the country if the major political parties fail to reach understanding and stop political bickering, Ain O Salish Kendra said today.

"While political major parties squabbled over different issues over the whole year, there were attempts by religion-based parties to rise," said Noor Khan, acting executive director of the legal aid organisation.

He was speaking on the occasion of publication of its annual human rights situation report at Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the capital.

Titled 'Human Rights Situation in Bangladesh 2013', the report said the country underwent a very unstable human rights situation during the year.

Despite some positive steps taken to establish economic, social and cultural rights, political violence throughout the year and deteriorated law and order situation created panic and insecurity among people, the ASK said in its summary report.

Forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and deaths in custody continued along with communal violence, harassment and killing of journalists, gender-based violence and violation of workers' rights, the report said.

Presented by senior investigator of ASK Abu Ahmed Faizul Kabir, the report highlights the trials against the wartime offences as the most positive step while the Rana Plaza collapse that claimed lives of 1,134 garment workers as the most disastrous event of the year.

The two international crimes tribunals this year gave verdict against six war criminals. Of them, Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah had been executed on completion of all legal procedures.

As many as 848 clashes took place in 2013 centring the verdicts of war crimes trials and political disputes over upcoming parliamentary election. The clashes killed 507 people including 15 police and two BGB men and left 22,407 injured, the report said.

Since the announcement of the 10th parliamentary election schedule on November 25, over 100 people died across the country during the opposition-called blockades.

Of them, 75 died between November 25 and December 15 and the rest were killed in clashes over the execution of Mollah from December 10 to 13, the report adds.

The clashes took place in around 50 districts but Satkhira was identified as deadliest one, the ASK report says.

The report also shows a distressing trend of communal violence in 2013.