What the state must do

One is relieved at the safe return of Abu Bakar Siddique from the clutches of his captors. There is little question that frantic efforts made by his wife Syeda Rizwana Hasan, direct intervention of the prime minister in the drive for Siddique's rescue and intensive operations launched by the law enforcement and security agencies have been instrumental in saving his life.
The need for the state will now be to ensure that Siddique, his wife and children remain safe and are able to emerge from their trauma and return to normal life.
There are other worries as well. Two decades ago, rights activist Kalpana Chakma was abducted and was never heard from again. Two years ago, prominent BNP politician Ilyas Ali was abducted in the way Siddique was last week. His party is of the opinion that the group which swooped on Siddique may be the same group which made Ilyas Ali disappear without trace.
Whether or not the assumption is true, the need today, even after all this time since the politician's disappearance, is clear: the nation must be informed, fully and truthfully and without ambiguity, what happened to Ilyas Ali. It is inconceivable that the machinery of the state is in no position to track down his captors, to find the trails down which the one-time lawmaker was taken to oblivion.
In recent times, instances of a disappearance of citizens have added to the horror of "shoot-outs" and "crossfires" to push our sense of fear into increasingly worrying dimensions. In a large number of instances, we do not know the exact figures regarding disappearances, for the media by and large do not report on them. And they do not because many of these disappearances are not reported or admitted by the authorities. A television channel reports, however, that between November and December last year, as many as 24 BNP activists disappeared without trace. That only heightens our worries.  
Who are the elements behind such disappearances? And what quarters are responsible for the abduction of people, including children, and what are their motives? Why is it that the state security apparatus is unable to identify these elements operating in daylight as also in the darkness of the night?
Abu Bakar Siddique's safe return was effectively a result of the concerted efforts made by the authorities for his recovery. One understands that such efforts cannot always be made by the government for every individual who falls prey to kidnapping. But what one does not understand either is why our law enforcers fail when it comes to restoring other disappeared individuals to their families or tracing their whereabouts once they have been seized by faceless yet vicious individuals and groups.
“Shoot-outs", "crossfires" and abductions eat into the vitals of fledgling democracies. In 1970s' and 1980s' Latin America, disappearances of citizens left societies badly mauled. The struggle yet goes on for people in that part of the world to put their collective trauma behind them and move on.
In Bangladesh, abductions and killings, together with shootings of individuals like Limon, leave democracy pauperised.
And that does not have to be the reality, if serious, well-meaning efforts are yet expended in digging into the truth behind the disappearances of Kalpana Chakma, Ilyas Ali and others, into informing citizens of how bodies with bullet wounds have been spotted at unlikely places in recent times.