Vandalism at Taqi Mancha
As if it was not horrible enough that the murder of Tanwir Muhammed Taqi, a schoolboy from Narayanganj, is yet to see justice, now even the platform that remembers and commemorates him has been vandalised. On the fourth anniversary of his murder, masked men vandalised the "Santrash Nirmul Taqi Mancha" in Narayanganj and injured at least one of the organisers.
The attack is nothing short of intimidation. The organisers if the "Taqi Mancha" had just finished a sit-in and a candle light vigil demanding that justice be served to the perpetrators. Taqi's father has accused local influential people, the same who were accused of Taqi's murder in 2013, when two days after he went missing, his body was found in the Shitalakkhya river.
Surprisingly, the charge sheet for the murder is yet to be filed. The investigating agency had found involvement of the nephew of a lawmaker in the killing. And yet, the case is one of the many which, for whatever reason, the authorities seem negligent in pursuing.
The Taqi Mancha is a platform which stands for justice, and speaks out against criminal activities through the memory of a murdered schoolboy. That these "masked vandals" are now lashing out against this platform for condemning wrongs and demanding justice points to the power that they command. This is violence to intimidate and gag people from speaking out. The law enforcement agencies must step up their efforts to not only catch these vandals, but to see that the murder of Taqi does not go unpunished. His family has waited for justice for years, and now there are efforts to prevent them from speaking out. It is the safety of the family as well as trust in our justice system that is at stake.
Comments