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Young Independent

Editorial


Police turn muggers?

The police seem to have gone on a crime binge despite the diatribe that is being directed against them from all quarters. In the latest show of shameless greed some officials and constables of the Khilgaon Police Station snatched nearly two lakh takas from a local trader, but when the people around sensed what was going on they caught the policemen, beat them up and then kept them confined in a house for hours. A contingent of police force later rescued them from there and brought them to the safety of the police station from where one officer and one constable managed to escape. According to reports the rescued officials have confessed to their involvement in the snatching of the money. The escape angered the mob further and they staged demonstration in front of the police station demanding their arrest and punishment.

It may be worth remembering that a young man was allegedly beaten to death by the police officers of the same police station only a week before and the case is still under investigation. What is incredible in this sordid episode is that when all eyes of the people are fixed on this very police station, the officials, instead of feeling guilty or remorseful for the untimely death of a fellow being, dared to venture out to fulfil a scheme that was not only illegal but profane too in this holy month of Ramzan. It is an ample indication that the corrupt police personnel are unstoppable in their hunt for money and they are least repentant for their immoral acts. Can a society progress when its police force turns into muggers and murderers?

We have no words to express our indignation and our fear thinking about the days ahead. We are scared to send our young men and women out lest they would be caught by the police for no reason whatsoever and send back home lifeless in a casket. We have no courage to go to the police station to file a case against the rogue police personnel who perpetrate such acts of terror openly on the very people whom they are supposed to protect. By the look of things it seems there is no higher authority over the police personnel-turned-criminals who reign from the police stations. We hear of policemen being 'closed' but never hear of putting them in the dock like other criminals and tried and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment. One or two rare trials in decades are too scanty to put fear in the minds of the criminally disposed policemen.

It is time the concerned authorities tell us in clear words what measure they are going to take to put the brakes on the criminality of policemen who defy the laws of the land. The people have the right to know why and how the crimes committed by the policemen usually gets lost in the labyrinth of departmental bureaucracy. They also want to know why the Ministry of Home Affairs does not say a word or two to assure the people in this regard.

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Myanmar's Muslims

The fresh round of anti-Muslim riots in Myanmar is to be viewed with utmost concern. This is not the first time; Myanmar's Muslim community is repeatedly subjected to atrocities and persecution. Persecution of Rohingya Muslisms has been going on for decades but this has not drawn the attention of the international human rights organisations in any noticeable way. Even when there is no physical persecution Muslims have been put under various restrictions. They were prevented from practising their religion freely. A kind of religious apartheid has been imposed against the Muslims by the military junta. They are not given jobs. In a country where practically all jobs are controlled by the government the plight of the Muslim minority resulting from their exclusion from employment can be easily imagined.

The last wave of influx of refugees from Myanmar took place in 1991-92 when half a million Rohingyas arrived in Bangladesh to escape the persecution of the state. After long and patient negotiation and intervention of the UN High Commission of Refugees it was possible to repatriate most of them but some 20,000 still remain.

Myanmar not being an open country news from there does not filter across easily but according to available reports anti-Muslim riots have been taking place in some areas during the last few days and panic-stricken Muslims have thronged near Bangladesh border. Bangladesh Rifles and police have tightened vigilance along the border to prevent fresh influx of refugees. The intensified patrol is understandable when it is considered that this country just cannot afford to bear any further burden of refugees resulting from racist policy of a neighbouring country. But measures for protection of the life, liberty property and religious freedom of Muslims must be initiated. Intense diplomatic move should be started to deal with the situation. The OIC, assuming that it has gathered a fresh tempo after the recent conference, should be mobilised.

Myanmar is not the only country where Muslim minorities are persecuted but it makes a difference when a government itself seeks to extirpate a section of its own population. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan said that the on-going violence in Myanmar will have no impact on relations between the two countries. There is no scope for disagreement with the minister. Friendship must be maintained but the country's border must be secured and fellow Muslims in a neighbouring country must be helped to save themselves from indignities. If this can be achieved within the framework of goodwill and friendship, so much the better.

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Cricket blues

Flattering to deceive: this has been the feature of Bangladesh cricket ever since it got the Test status. Since then it has been a series of resounding defeats interspersed with some good individual performances. However this series against England promised to be different.

The team's fine showing in Pakistan fired hopes of the millions of fans. Though the side lost all the Test matches the performance was better than ever before. Especially in the last Test at Multan Bangladesh was on the verge of victory, being thwarted only by an exceptional showing from one of the finest batsmen of modern times Inzamam Ul Huq. So when the England team arrived in Bangladesh for a two Test series people were expecting that history would be made with Bangladesh winning for the first time. Even the sceptics among the fans said that Bangladesh would put up a tough fight and England would not find the going easy. England had a relatively inexperienced side with many of their players having played fewer Tests than the Bangladeshis. Especially their bowling looked quite weak on paper. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, cricket is not played on paper but on the field. And on the field England's aggressive approach paid off and Bangladesh surrendered not with a bang but with a whimper.

Bangladesh looked totally out of sorts and never seemed capable of pulling of a draw, let alone a victory. So where does the team go from here. Perhaps cricket in Bangladesh is back to square one with the future looking none too bright. The poor showing at home will strengthen the voice of those who believe that Bangladesh should not have got the Test status in the first place. Bangladesh can silence the naysayers only with good performance on the playing fields. However the track record does not inspire much optimism. This series has been a particularly disappointing one. And if the players do not make a marked improvement soon the future looks rather bleak.

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