The recent verdict that was handed down against two ministers of the last BNP-led 4-party alliance government as well as the intelligence chief at the time should be an occasion for some serious soul-searching on the part of the BNP and its supporters.
Even if we accept the proposition that these three were rogue operators who were acting without the knowledge and approval of their colleagues in government, the fact that such unlawful plots could be hatched and carried out at such high levels of government is a shocking indictment of the entire BNP-led administration and something that the then-government in its entirety must be accountable for.
Secondly, it is incontrovertible, that the then-government not only did little to pursue the case, they were actually guilty of what amounts to a cover up. The guilty were shielded from punishment, and innocent men were implicated.
Even if we absolve the BNP government from the sins of three of its most senior members, there is no getting away from the fact that the government’s response to the uncovering of the arms smuggling plot was a disgrace.
The entire episode has revealed an alarming face of the last BNP-led government, that they need to account for, and that its supporters need to consider when assessing the party’s credibility and fitness to govern in future.
There must be assurances that rogue elements within their ranks (and that is the charitable interpretation) will be reined in, and that the Bangladeshi public need not fear such machinations, either in opposition, or if they ever return to power, if the BNP wishes to be taken seriously as a democratic entity.
The arms smuggling plot was unlawful, reckless, and totally contrary to the national interest. The BNP must bear its share of the blame for this criminality and it must credibly be able to assure the nation that such an assault against the law can never happen on its watch again.
Source: Dhaka Tribune