Things of a rather intriguing nature have been happening in and about Bangladesh, fundamentally around some of its citizens in high places.
The mysterious, indeed horrific murder of ruling party lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar in Kolkata raises a host of questions about the manner in which the MP related to his assailants prior to the tragedy taking place in India. Obviously, Bangladesh’s people have all the right in the world to know all the details about the MP’s background and his links, if any, with those who have now put an end to his life.
And then there are the reports about the termination of the contractual appointments of two senior officials at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), one of them a deputy press secretary, the circumstances behind the development as yet unexplained. Indeed, it will be safe to assume that the causes behind the removal of the officials from the PMO will not be forthcoming in the public domain, which is just as well.
And now come the more significant and certainly more disturbing of happenings which certainly have the government embarrassed to no end. Media reports of a vast accumulation of wealth, beyond his known sources of income, by Benazir Ahmed, the former inspector general of police, have left the nation in a state of shock. While conclusive evidence regarding the worldly possessions of the former IGP is yet to be provided, there is no gainsaying that something has been amiss about the man and his family.
In effect, reputations have lately been under assault in the country. The recent move by the US authorities to impose a ban on travel to America by former army chief of staff General Aziz Ahmed and his family is one which is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh. Benazir Ahmed has been under US sanctions over the past three years and now into that straitjacket falls Aziz Ahmed. Washington’s charges against the former army chief relate to corruption, notably his alleged handling of matters related to his siblings during his time as head of the army.
The good news emerging from all these unhappy developments is the assertion by leading government figures that the former IGP and the former army chief will not be provided with protection by the government in the crises they are up against. In real terms, though, is that good news? Should these governmental statements be considered good news, given that it is for the law to take its natural course while dealing with matters which appear to have been a clear digression from the law? Besides, the very idea of governmental protection being provided to people who may have committed wrong militates against the rule of law. It is for the state to go ahead and investigate any and every instance of malfeasance committed by any citizen. Raising questions of protection leave citizens mystified. That ought not to have been the case in these two instances.
Where these allegations against the former IGP and the former army chief of staff assume even more critical importance is on the role the nation’s intelligence agencies and the relevant government departments did not play in keeping the activities of the two men under the scanner when they held high office. It is pretty strange that the reports about the former IGP were first made known by a couple of newspapers in the country. And strange too is the reality of the former army chief becoming the subject of public discourse only after the Washington authorities sought to make a public announcement of sanctions being imposed on him and his family.
These are extraordinary happenings in that the revelations come to us without any change of government having taken place in Bangladesh. Both Benazir and Aziz have served under the current government, with utmost loyalty. Now that both men have been targeted, almost simultaneously, on the basis of charges only they will be expected through their lawyers to handle, where does all this leave the government? One ready response would be for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to undertake a wholesale purge of those holding authority in the corridors of power, in every area of government. Prior to the elections, reports of unprecedented wealth accumulation on the part of candidates for higher elective office left citizens gravely worried. It is in such areas where the government will now be expected to prove its sincerity in implementing its zero tolerance toward corruption.
And, yes, citizens will certainly wait to hear from the government about its official view of the revelations related to the former IGP and the former army chief of staff. Let the law take its course, but let the government too come forth with explanations of how all this wrongdoing was allegedly committed by the two men when they were in service as part of the power structure.
This is a moment when the principle of accountability is in grave need of reassertion. Having been elected to an unprecedented third consecutive term in office, the Awami League government will be called upon to reassure Bangladesh’s people that transparency will be the underlying principle of governance. The revelations related to Benazir Ahmed and Aziz Ahmed should not only be occasion for a wholesale cleaning up of the administration --- at the political and administrative levels --- but also be an opportunity for the inauguration of a system of unfettered authority that will have no room for behaviour which undermines the core values upon which this People’s Republic was founded.
One last point: it is the moral authority of the government to ensure that no one accused of criminal acts will be permitted to leave the country. Those assisting the guilty or the accused of taking flights to unwarranted freedom in order to escape justice at home must also be brought to justice.
