Although many may argue about the necessity of torture in extreme situation when life of innocent victims are on the line (i.e. in case one needs to find out the location or plan of any imminent mass-destructive effort like bomb or terror plots), just being a suspect does not warrant wholesale torture. Only the criminal should fear Rab, others should see them as a resource, a symbol of benevolent power. Power calls for responsibility. I urge the government of Bangladesh to take two basic steps as a supplement to existing training programme for the Rab members, both for ranks and files. It's absolutely necessary that they go through a continuous briefing on ethics and compassion. Rab members should understand that they are not the power as individuals; rather, they are the medium through which power is projected.
I am not here to judge Rab. I do not know what they go through, nor do I know the risk they take on a daily basis. But this much I now for certain: restraint is a virtue that anyone with power should maintain on a permanent basis. Before applying force and before any engagement, Rab personnel should ask three fundamental questions: (1) As a Rab member, am I fulfilling any personal agenda with the power given to me? (2) Am I respecting human dignity to the best of my ability? (3) The suffering my action may cause, is it necessary for my mission? Someone once said, the greatest justice is done when the judge feels the pain to inflict due punishment on the duly punished.
Nothing is worse than a person in uniform who is intoxicated by power. I like to believe that Rab leadership would at least give a cursory thought about human dignity before allowing unnecessary pain/suffering to their fellow citizenspoor or otherwise.