The Sunderbans -- 'Sundar' no more
THE Sunderbans has been in the news from time to time for various reasons. Apart from its timber and tiger, both of which are depleting fast, there are the more than dozen 'Bahinis' who have their own turfs in that forest. Recently it was in the news again for the so-called encounter killing of 11+2 a day before Eid.
The Sunderbans has lured people of many kinds. Some were attracted by their pristine beauty, some by the awe inspired by the unknown and men's constant desire to discover the strange and the unfamiliar, while some where drawn in to it by sheer lust for the varied, vast and rich resources that the area held within it.
Our Sunderbans, the nearly 6,000 kilometer square of the world's largest tidal mangrove forest held similar magic. But it was never a safe place. Tourists dared but only to skirt the periphery; very few ventured inside for the threat was not only from the predator animals but predator men too.
The pride of the jungle and one of our icons, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is dwindling in size because the primary nature of the forest is being destroyed by gradual influx of humans inside the forest. And the vying for resources, particularly honey or liquid gold, has given rise to dozens of 'Bahinis' who become victim of each others' greed as well as the might of the law enforcing agencies.
While this was a large inhospitable tract infested with various bandit groups the government's writ ran but only with difficulty. Swatches of the Sunderbans became fiefdoms of various groups that clashed with the forest department officials continually. The forest guards were far too scanty in number to exercise the authority of the government on the entire area and more often than not came out second best in any confrontation with the armed gangs. The scenario changed with the induction of the Rapid Action Battalion, whose operations in the Sunderbans had a restraining effect on these groups, at least on their rent seeking activities. And in the process of combating the dacoits firefight did take place resulting in the deaths of some of the gang members. Reportedly, since January 2017, 87 members of these virtual outlaw groups have been killed in firefight with the law enforcing agencies. Of the 26 killed in 2014 the recent Paikgacha deaths are perhaps the largest number killed in one single 'encounter.'
This time a group of 13 belonging to Kashem Bahini suffered death, and all but two, by all indications from the reports, may not have died in circumstances described by the police. This happened when the two largest religious festivals in the country were being celebrated. It came in the print media only after the papers appeared after the Eid holidays, when the authorities had had enough time to spin stories to give the killing a colour that is difficult to accept at face value. The TV reports were enough to make one form a fairly good idea of what might have happened in the 'encounter.' There are also the statements of as many as four local upazilla chairmen which contradict the police version of the circumstances of the deaths. These completely rubbish the deaths in encounter.
Admittedly, all those killed in the alleged 'gunfight' were hardened criminals. And they were actually apprehended by the locals while fleeing with a person they had just abducted. The locals, after delivering a round of mob justice on them, handed them over to the police. If they were killed in crossfire how is it that their bodies were badly mangled? And their condition at the time of being handed over to the police was near death. How could a moribund person participate in a gunfight? The most ludicrous aspect of the matter is that these 13 bandits were the only ones to have got hit by flying bullets, and all their cohorts had apparently escaped unhurt.
The least the government should do is to hold a judicial enquiry into the incident to determine the real circumstances of the death and remove the questions in public mind. While the agencies have every right to self defence they can never be allowed to become the judge jury and executioner. Unfortunately, the practice of 'encounter killing' is not new. It was revived with 'Operation Clean Heart' and its ghost is still riding on us. There can be only one outcome of circumventing the process of law, which is indeed longwinded in our country, in this manner -- the law of the jungle in the country.
The writer is Editor, Op-Ed and Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.
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