Crossfire is not the answer to militancy

We cannot but express our total dismay at the rising number of deaths of suspects in police custody. Just after the news of Golam Faizullah Fahim's mysterious death in a police shootout, after ten days remand, we hear the news of a prime suspect in the Abhijit Roy and Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy murders being killed in a 'gunfight' with detectives. This is contrary to everything Bangladesh or any other civilised nation, stands for and makes a mockery of the rule of law.

The frequency with which such deaths are occurring has created a tremendous sense of unease among the people. The unofficial logic, if it can be called so, behind such occurrences is that the legal system will either grant them bail or acquittal or a sentence of a few years completing which, the militants will be free to commit more murders. While this may be an expedient in the very short term, in the medium and the long run, such extrajudicial measures go against all fundamental values of humanity. 

This dangerous 'quick fix' that has been ruthlessly carried out cannot be the way to combat militancy. We are shocked at the blatant way these 'crossfire' shootings are occurring with the same incredible rhetoric of suspects somehow getting killed in encounters between cohorts and law enforcers. 

We must stop this reprehensible practice and find other means as adopted by many countries and that are not in contradiction to basic human values, to make anti–terror strategies more effective.