The tempest in a teacup is over. It seems that the murderer of Rajon is not coming back any time soon. Kamrul must have kept Noor Hossain in mind when he had his tryst with the police officer in his bid to flee. In the meantime, the nefarious police who let the “dog” go, got a simple slap on the wrist. In no time, I bet, he will be back to his old ways, some other beat and repeat.
On the hilt of Rajon comes Rakib. Hullabaloo ensues. Talk shows go haywire. Ministers talk tough. And there is Niloy, a born-again atheist in the mould of Rajib and Oyasiqur and Avijit.
The prime minister has to keep her famous silence. However, her surrogates, including her son, and lately, the home minister, decidedly and loudly, has made it clear that the government shall not tolerate anti-religious slants by Avijit et al. There is no inkling that they have any intention of catching the marauding murderers.
Well, murders of this nature don’t occur in a void. The milieu is littered with the trails of hundreds of murders and gruesome crimes, where the perpetrators remain out of reach of the supposedly long arm of justice.
Despite great leads by different investigating outfits, including the elite RAB, justice for Twoki remains in perpetual limbo. Limon’s perpetrator remains untouched. AB Siddique’s allegedly well-built, stout, and professional-like kidnappers also remain at large.
The mastermind of the N-7 murder reportedly posited that the government is afraid to get him back home. The investigation of an erstwhile minister of AL (Shah Kibria) still remains shrouded in mystery. And Avijit’s wife may get to speak to her friends at PEN International, but the pencil of justice in Bangladesh, as it pertains to her husband’s murder, shall keep doodling forever.
Twoki’s father goes to jail for writing a bad cheque (if the news reports are correct), but those cousins of Borgi bandits who have plundered the banks and the money-houses of the Dhaka Stock Exchange over and over still remain free to roam the alleys of power in style.
Those Epicurean virtues like simplicity, courage, honesty, and moderation are not the forte of today’s leaders -- both in power and in opposition. Save a few, they are the modern-day epicures enjoying fine wine, gourmet food, classical music, and finer-than-muslin raiment.
As the nation slowly but surely slides towards more and more entropy, they, by the grace of God, keep on talking lovely about their puny democracy and development. They taunt any opposing view by touting Bangladesh’s promotion to the lower rungs of a middle-income economy.
In a country where unnatural death in the hands of nefarious outfits is a constant fear, where accidental deaths on the highway are so prevalent, and where the supposed blindness of justice is blind -- does it matter if the per capita income is few hundred dollars more than it was a few years ago?
