It has been a long list of people going missing. Recently there have been a number of forced disappearances. Of those, the disappearance of a North South University teacher Dr Mubashar Hasan is the latest one to have left society in a state of stupor. Only the other day, the chief of the recently formed Bangladesh Janata Party Mithun Chowdhury along with another leader Ashik Ghosh was picked up by unidentified persons. A freedom fighter Habibul Alam, Bir Protik, was the only man to have avoided a similar fate a day later when he was returned by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) after interrogation in connection with money laundering by an international gang. Journalist Utpal Das is traceless.
Significantly, the majority of people remaining traceless after their forced disappearances have no connection with active politics. Unlike two front leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Elias Ali and Salahuddin Ahmed, these people carry no political price. If their disappearance has any explanation it might be ransom value. In case of abduction for ransom, mostly children are targeted. There are instances where a fat amount of money paid as ransom could get the hostages freed.
Now it is difficult to know about the identity of those who pick up an unsuspecting person. When the motive behind such actions is unknown, it is highly troubling. Law enforcement agencies are required to follow rules and procedures before arresting someone. There should be nothing fishy about their actions. But as things stand now accusing fingers are pointed to such agencies most of the time for picking up people without warrants of arrest. Even if the people in uniform are not involved, the public has become habituated to apprehend that it is the handiwork of the former. Such a sense of mistrust is vitiating the social and legal atmosphere of the country.
How the mistrust gets entrenched is best illustrated by the comic relief following the disappearance of Frhad Mazhar, a leading intellectual, from Dhaka and arrival in Khulna. But most forced disappearances do not end up on a positive note. A number of people including Aniruddha Kumar Roy went missing in August last. Mr. Roy, managing director of RMM group was picked up from Gulshan Circle-2 and his whereabout is unknown until today.
People are supposed to seek help from the law enforcement agencies when such incidents take place; instead if they are scared of them blaming them for forced disappearance, the atmosphere is charged with mistrust and apprehension of ominous possibilities. This is a negative development and society gets stunted as a result of the suspicion spreading all kinds of wild rumour. If people go missing in this manner and are not traced down successfully, the law enforcement agencies cannot shirk their responsibilities. They are there to resolve the mystery behind such disappearances. Why they fail to do so is where people start doubting their sincerity. In selective cases, they fail to proceed but in others their success is startling. Their sincerity is doubtful at times.
However, their intelligence cannot be undermined. Their performance is excellent some of the time. So any shadow of doubt cast on their sincerity should be cleared in the interest of people-public relations as also the rule of law.
