As if not to let Limon off the lawmen's hook, charge has been framed under juvenile crime prevention act against him in an old case lodged more than a year before.
We wonder why he is being hounded by a state apparatus under the watch of an elected democratic government.
His travails seem endless.
On March 23 last year members of the anti-crime squad Rab shot this college student in the leg claiming him to be a member of a notorious criminal gang. The adolescent from a poverty-stricken family was crippled forever with his left leg amputated in a Dhaka hospital.
Amid wide media coverage on the victimisation of the boy, the High Court in May last year issued a rule upon the government to explain in two weeks why a probe commission should not be formed to look into cause of the Rab's firing on Limon. Even the fate of the case that Limon's mother filed some two weeks after the incident against six Rab personnel is still unknown.
Now while the crippled boy is trying to concentrate on his studies, as his harassed family is making efforts to pull itself together, submission of chargesheet against him in the Jhalakathi judicial magistrate's court has piled on his miseries. This brings to the fore the unrelenting wrath of a state agency against a helpless individual making a mockery of the rule of law.
Complete lack of compliance with high court ruling calls for enforcing accountability of the law-enforcers concerned. Limon's mother's desperate bid to get justice should draw the attention of the higher judiciary as well as the government for suitable action to save Limon from further victimisation and punish those responsible for his plight. If this is not done citizens' confidence in the state as their protector will only be shaken.
We are heartened by Japan's positive response on the issue of taking up the stalled Padma Bridge funding with the Asian Development Bank and other development partners. There has been talk of putting in place a revised proposal that could potentially help get the funding back on track. Japan has been a tested friend of Bangladesh throughout the decades. Any help in renegotiating a new loan project with development partners will certainly be welcome.
In the meantime, we are witnessing strong determination of the government to embark on the building project by mobilising local resources. In this regard, it would be judicious to let the Japanese initiative mature before making a final decision on what resources will be committed to building the most important infrastructural project of recent times. It is also interesting to note that of late, there has been a lot of careless talk on the World Bank's position. The media reports published over the last few weeks point to immature statements being made by individuals holding important public offices. Given the sensitivity of the issue, we certainly need to more circumspective.
While we certainly support the government's message that Padma Bridge must be built. It is however somewhat alarming to witness the beginnings of unregulated money collection efforts being initiated in some points of the country for the building effort. We even have members of parliament pledging to get on this bandwagon. The problems associated with this sort of nationalistic jingoism are obvious. What is there to stop political henchmen to exploit the rising nationalistic fervour and emotional state of the collective in collecting large funds in the name of the nation's development? This could potentially lead to unbridled extortion, unless the government makes every effort to set up proper mechanisms to collect revenue. It is hoped that cooler heads will prevail and we do not end up scuttling a compromise plan initiated by an important development partner with our irresponsible, and at times, contradictory comments.
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