What next after Feni and Narayanganj?
HOURS after the brutal killing of Fulgazi Upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque Ekram, Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina had claimed that evil forces against the spirit of independence and the Liberation War, who wanted to weaken the Awami League organisationaly through killing and terrorism, might have killed Ekram.
She did not directly implicate BNP-Jamaat men in the gruesome killing. But she pointed a finger at them for the killing because, in the eyes of the government and AL, BNP-Jamaat men are the anti-liberation forces.
Her claim was proved wrong as supporters of Ekram, an AL leader, and locals in Fulgazi of Feni have already pointed a finger at AL local MP Nizam Hazari for masterminding Tuesday's killing.
Media reports have also exposed the rivalry between slain Ekram and Hazari. It is almost clear that the killing is a result of internal conflict in the local AL. If it is so, local AL leaders who were allegedly involved in the killing now turn out to be the evil forces against the spirit of the Liberation War!
The premier might have been misguided or ill-informed about the identities of the killers before issuing the statement blaming anti-liberation forces for the killing. The question is: will she take action against her close aides who have put her in an embarrassing situation by providing her wrong information?
Another crucial question is: was it wise of the prime minister to put the blame for the killing on political opponents immediately after the incident? This will in no way help to nab the real criminals. The way things are moving, family members of the victim may be denied justice.
Again, politics has ruled in filing the case in connection with the killing. Ekram's younger brother Rezaul Haq filed the case, in which local BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury, who was Ekram's opponent in the recent upazila parishad election, was named as the prime suspect. Rezaul said that Mahtab was named as per the decision of the district AL. “It was not our decision,” he said.
The prime minister has claimed that Ekram was a popular leader. But his track records say that he had faced around two dozens criminal cases including some murder charges, and established his supremacy in Feni through unlawful activities. However, will the police be able to carry out a fair investigation into the killing after her statement?
The PM had done this on several occasions in recent times. This is a manifestation of the confrontational culture in our politics in which ruling party men cannot do anything wrong and the opposition men are responsible for all unlawful and criminal activities. For example, after abduction and killing of the panel mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation and six other people, the prime minister on May 1 blamed the BNP for those.
But her claim was proved wrong. The panel mayor was a local AL leader and the prime suspect of the killings is also an AL leader and city councilor, Nur Hossain, who was expelled from the party after the incident. Locals and media reports have pointed the finger at local AL lawmaker Shamim Osman for the heinous incident, which reveals the rivalries centering the running of unlawful businesses.
The AL men resorted to widespread rigging and violence in the upazila parishad elections held in February and March this year to ensure their win. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on March 27, claimed that her party men were not engaged in rigging the upazila parishad elections. She, rather, claimed that BNP men were behind the rigging.
She had also blasted the media for running news reports exposing the rigging in the polls. Her view was that “a section of media people have been trying to bring unconstitutional forces to power by making the elections controversial.”
The fate of the Ekram killing case is uncertain. His killing took place in broad daylight, within three weeks of the gruesome seven murders in Narayanganj, bringing to the forefront the issue of criminalisation of politics. The mastermind and prime suspect of the Narayanganj killing are yet to be nabbed. This raises concern about the situation in the coming days. To remove people's concern the prime minister must take action, whoever the evil forces are. Otherwise, the culture of criminalisation of politics will take heavy toll in other parts of the country.
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The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.
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