The Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, led by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, yesterday rejected Human Rights Watch’s proposal to dissolve Rapid Action Battalion.
The global human rights watchdog yesterday sent a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with the request.
Amir Hossain Amu told reporters yesterday after a meeting of the committee: “It is an internal matter. They cannot request to dissolve the elite force. We will not make any decision in the light of their request. We will make decisions in our context.”
According to the HRW website, the letter termed RAB a “death squad” and suggested that until it is disbanded, the force “should be made into an entirely civilian force by withdrawing all military officers and soldiers from its members.”
Asked what they had been thinking about BNP’s threat of staging a strong movement after Eid to topple the government, Amu said: “It is none of the cabinet committee’s business. We are not even worried that they could do it... We are keeping a close eye on things. If we see that they are creating anarchy or violence in the name of movement, we will make a decision by calling an emergency meeting. But, we hope they will not be able to do it.”
Amu also said yesterday’s meeting ordered the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to keep law and order under control during the Ramadan, Eid-Ul-Fitr and Durga Puja. The owners of the readymade garments factories were requested to pay the wages and festival allowances of the workers before Eid.
The law enforcement and investigation agencies had been instructed to speed up the investigations into the Narayanganj seven murders and Feni upazila chairman Ekramul Haque killing cases.
The cabinet body issued an instruction for beefing up security at the Bihari Camp in the capital’s Mirpur area in the wake of last month’s skirmishes and arrest the persons responsible for the attack on the camp and the death of 10 people.
“The prison authority has been asked to reshuffle jail police because most of the staff of the Department of Prisons have been working in one place for a long time. It is one major reason behind irregularities in jails across the country,” Amu said.
Authorities concerned had been instructed to follow the new Formalin Control Act in conducting special drives at the district level to check misuse of the harmful chemical in food staffs.
The cabinet committee also instructed the authorities concerned to resist diesel, patrol and drug trafficking at the border.
The meeting, held at the Home Ministry, was also attended by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Expatriates Welfare Minister Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain, Post and Telecommunications Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and State Minister for Labour Mojibul Haque Chunnu.