Ruling Awami League’s Advisory Council Member Suranjit Sengupta has admitted that the government has failed to maintain law and order even though the ministers are unwilling to accept any such shortcoming despite recent spate of killings of children and secular bloggers.
Sengupta also slated the inspector general of police for advising the bloggers ‘not to cross the limit while writing’ after police’s failure to arrest any of the murderers of the four bloggers killed in past six months.
Rival BNP claims the recent killings of children and the freethinkers manifest the sharp decline in the law and order situation.
“It’s true that we have failed to tackle the law and order situation,” Sengupta told a discussion on Tuesday.
“It’s unacceptable that police cannot nab the accused. We, too, have failed. We have to think about this,” he added.
Sengupta criticised IGP AKM Shahidul Hoque. “Bloggers are being killed one after another. And IGP has said they should not write anything that hurts religious sentiment.”
“Ansarullah Bangla Team has claimed responsibility for the murders. Arrest them,” he added.
The senior legislator also spoke about the contempt rule against Bangla-language daily Janakantha’s editor and executive editor.
A six-strong Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is scheduled to issue the order on the rule on Thursday.
The Janakantha editors have been pulled up for an article on the chief justice meeting war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s family.
Sengupta hoped that the order would be a ‘milestone’ and enrich Bangladesh’s democracy.
“This is the first time journalists and the Supreme Court are contesting in a contempt case,” Sengupta said.
“Earlier, people accused in contempt cases used to seek forgiveness admitting their mistake. Never before in the history of Supreme Court has there been such a contested contempt case. This is a rare incident,” he added.
He also said, “No one is above accountability. Judiciary, legislative, administration, everyone has to be transparent.”
“Journalists also have a code of conduct. They have to work going by this,” he said.
Source: Bd news24