The body of Mong Shu You, a 70-year-old monk, was discovered with his throat slit inside Chakpara Buddhist Temple on Saturday.
It is very important that the investigation into his murder looks into reports which claim the victim had been receiving anonymous death threats but the reports had not been taken seriously by authorities.
As an apparently targeted killing, the first of its kind against a Buddhist monk in Bandarban, it is imperative authorities reassure the public by swiftly acting to identify and bring his killers to justice.
The government needs to take note. Mong Shu You’s murder shares obvious similarities with recent targeted killings of religious minorities and secular writers.
If an innocent 70-year-old monk can receive death threats and be brutally murdered, nobody in the country can feel fully safe.
The ever-widening list of attacks shows that it does not matter what victims believe, say or write, the groups behind targeted killings will keep finding or making up reasons to incite or carry out new attacks.
The government’s first responsibility is to keep all people safe and secure. First and foremost, its duty is to uphold law and order by ending the impunity which has emboldened gangs of murderous fanatics to cynically target individuals to be slaughtered in cold blood.
Although authorities claim to be making progress in investigations and different militant groups have variously been blamed for, or have claimed responsibility for killings, the fact remains these despicable targeted murders are still continuing and the murderers remain at large.
This is plainly unacceptable. The government needs to catch the killers and put a stop to these murders to fulfill its duty to protect all citizens.
Authorities must not rest until all those responsible are brought before the law.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
