The August 21 carnage

Star Archive

THE nation has observed the ninth anniversary of the ghastly grenade blasts but it still remains uncertain whether the trial for the gruesome attack will be completed during this tenure of a government which will leave office in a few months. To recollect, the attack was carried out at an Awami League rally in Bangabandhu Avenue allegedly to kill the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.
While extreme views advocating annihilation of the political opponent has been a sad socio-political reality of our society, there is a paramount need to stop it once for all. Many political murders have not been investigated properly while some cases are still under investigation and some have been perfunctorily looked into. Such a state of affairs point to the supreme necessity of a comprehensive investigation of the incident of attempted assassination of Sheikh Hasina because that is expected to be an example-setter in the criminal justice system.
To recollect, the multiple grenade assault of August 21, 2004, was clearly a manifest attempt to wipe out the leadership of a mainstream political party. The damage already caused with its far-reaching ramifications cannot be brushed aside. The double figure deaths and crippling injuries of hundreds should make us wonder if the state organs investigating the incident and the then political authority had realised the enormity of the dastardly attack.
We may also recollect that the investigation of the above incident was not taken in the earnestness that it deserved, and the first indication of that was the unpardonable failure to protect and preserve the scene of the occurrence. There was allegation that physical evidence was tampered with and destroyed. The field units did not act with desired speed and circumspection. The question is, did this happen because of so-called instruction from above? The culpability of all concerned, high and low, needs to be established.
In the fitness of things, every criminal case should be disposed of on its own merit. That is the ideal. In our situation, it would be necessary to dwell upon certain facts and circumstances of our socio-political existence, and in particular the perilous political polarisation of our society that has a definite bearing upon the basic regulatory function of investigation by the state agency, the police.
While the public's right to be informed cannot be denied and the nation's concern for the safety and security of innocent lives cannot be brushed aside, we will do well to look at the factual dimension of the bomb/grenade blasts in a dispassionate manner. Almost immediate apportioning of blame, mostly on rivals of the other camp, by responsible persons after each occurrence became pathetically recurrent. Indiscreet and uninformed comments in such sensitive matters further complicated the environment in our society.
The citizens need to know why our investigating outfit has to live with the double stigma of being partisan and inefficient. One may ask why our national level political leaders openly impute motives on the part of the investigators and cast doubt on their integrity. Who has failed whom? Had political leaders encouraged and abetted the malfeasance of the investigators, as alleged? Viewed from another angle, are we victims of misplaced priorities owing to the follies of myopic policymakers and professionals? These are queries that need to be pondered in serious earnest.
We will definitely put ourselves and our future generation in peril by our inability to let a truly professional investigating agency grow in accordance with the dictates of the law. Viewing criminal occurrences from a political angle only will be ruinous because that would not only be a damper to the growth of professionalism but also, in the process, shatter the confidence reposed in the vital institution of the state. It shall be in the fitness of things to allow investigative outfits to attain professional excellence without being influenced by any extraneous direction.

The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.