Trials of militants
At a time when our government has reiterated its commitment to curb militancy in the country we are dumbfounded by a news report by a leading Bangla daily that the trial process of 156 cases involving militants are on hold. The reason for this is even more mystifying: over 300 police personnel including plaintiffs, investigating officers and police witnesses of the cases, have just not turned up in the court even after arrest warrants had been issued against them.
Such defiance of the law by those who have been appointed to protect it is unfathomable. The report cites the example of four arrested Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) members being produced in the court 67 times but the plaintiffs, a sub inspector of the police station and an investigating officer never came for giving their depositions in court thus retarding the trial process.
The reluctance of the home ministry to give the required approval of charge sheets of 138 militancy cases is also baffling as this, too, has set back the trial processes.
It is encouraging that our law enforcing agencies have been able to arrest militants before they could carry out any terror attacks. But just arresting them without a quick trial process nullifies such efforts. If the government is as serious about combating terrorism as it says it is, it should make sure that the home ministry approves the charge sheets of the militancy cases and that the members of the law enforcing agencies, who are the plaintiffs and witnesses in such cases, appear in court.
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