Untold Facts

Commentary : Abuse of police power won’t help: VCs should take responsibility

As the combing operation launched by the government to haul up Shibir and Jamaat activists from all over the country continues in a bid, what the administration said, to catch those responsible for the killing of Bangladesh Chhatra League activist Farukh on the Rajshahi University campus, the Vice-Chancellor of Rajshahi University on Saturday blamed the police for neglect of duty in preventing the killing.

RU Vice-Chancellor Sobhan told a press conference in a written statement that the blame for the violence squarely fell on Police. “Prior to the clash on February 8, the police commissioner came to visit me after inspecting the campus. He was informed of possible trouble as some suspicious characters were seen gathering in areas adjoining the university. He was also told to take preventive actions,” Sobhan said.

He said the police commissioner, before leaving, assured the authorities that enough force would be deployed on the campus and that the situation was under control. “It is very strange that the violent clashes that night continued for about an hour despite the so-called precautions taken by the police,” the statement said.

While the murder of the BCL activist has been condemned by all concerned, the countrywide combing operation launched against Shibir and Jamaat activists in response has raised eye-brows because such tough action did neither follow the recent killing of a student even on the Dhaka University campus, nor the clash in which Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activist Tuku was grievously injured in the same university premises.

Before these incidents a number of BCL workers were killed in internecine intra-party clashes for establishment of supremacy on different educational institutions including the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Leaders of BNP on Saturday sharply criticised the government for its contradictory role following the recent campus killings. They said the government was harassing the opposition leaders and activists in the name of ‘combing operation’ for the killing of BCL worker Faruk but it surprisingly remained silent about the killing of Abu Bakar, a student of Dhaka University.

A senior teacher of Dhaka University has remarked that under the present democratic set-up the government cannot launch such a country-wide operation against a party which has been legally registered with the Election Commission and has two elected MPs in Parliament.

The average citizens would have felt assured if they could see a professional approach on the part of the police to haul up those responsible for the RU killing. Instead the countrywide operation that has so far been carried out interning more than 500 Shibir and Jamaat activists has created panic in the public mind.

The action has also harmed whatever neutral image the law enforcing agencies had in professionally dealing with people responsible for crimes. It carries the danger of not upholding or ignoring the democratic freedoms of all sections of the society.

We know police are in no position to act independently. What we can say is that abuse of police power in dealing with campus violence is bound to prove counter-productive. The VCs must come forward and take responsibility. Instead of hiding behind government’s police, the VCs should raise campus police and take responsibility of protecting their students.

Source: the New Nation