Ever since the fall of the previous government, Bangladesh has noticed a significant degradation in the law and order landscape, with stories of rampant looting and muggings making the headlines practically every day.
One such tragic event is the recent death by stabbing of Tajbir Hossain Shihan, a former student of East West University who was left bleeding out in the open in a rather populated area of the capital after a run-in with muggers. What is especially appalling about Shihan’s story is the sheer incompetence exhibited by our law enforcement, who resorted to the same old practice of playing the blame game instead of actually responding to the crime in a timely manner.
According to reports, Shihan was left injured some 100 yards away from the Mouchak Police Outpost. When contacted by the victim’s father, officials at the Mouchak Police Outpost passed responsibility to the Highway Police, who in turn stated that the crime had been committed under the jurisdiction of the Mouchak Police Outpost. The lack of any initiative on the part of law enforcement meant Shihan was left bleeding for almost five hours until he eventually succumbed to his injuries.
To call this unacceptable would be an understatement of the highest order.
We understand that the escalation in unrest following the ouster of the previous government resulted in our law enforcement becoming decidedly demoralized, but such excuses no longer hold any water. It is high time that the government started ramping up its planned reform of our police, as it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the force when it comes to basic metrics of success as response time, not to mention the culture of bypassing accountability.
Shihan’s death is the result of our continued problems with weakened law and order, but it is also the result of law enforcement incompetence. A failure to act against either is not something we should become comfortable with.
