“They (police) fired back in self-defence, resulting in fatalities,” the statements say. However, opposition political parties in Bangladesh say the cross-fire deaths are linked to graft, as corrupt ruling party officials and bureaucrats try to eliminate rivals and help steer government contracts and related kickbacks to friends and themselves.
Human rights groups meanwhile criticise the killings as effectively “extra-judicial” means of trying to enforce order, and have urged the authorities to crack down on the practice. The government denies such accusations. “No one has been killed by law enforcers deliberately or (is) being tasked by the government” to do extra-judicial killings, Home Minister Sahara Khatun said recently.
Police say more than 200 people were killed in Dhaka alone from January through August, among a national total of 2,836. 4,099 and 3,691 people were killed in 2008 and 2007 respectively under the army-backed interim regime, and some 4,166 people murdered in 2006 when Khaleda was in power. If the trend of the first eight months continues, analysts believe the total in Hasina’s first year would be marginally higher.
Independent observers say students from Hasina’s Awami League and Khaleda’s BNP flex muscles or use guns to extort money, steal documents to help favoured businessmen, and take mob action to control streets or university dormitories. Another issue the present government is criticized against is the issue of corruption in Bangladesh. Is crime on the rise in the country since a democratic government took charge after two years under a military-backed interim authority? Global watchdog, Transparency International rated Bangladesh the world’s most corrupt nation for five consecutive years from 2001. Subsequently the rating improved, to 10th in 2008, after a military-backed interim government took tough anti-graft steps in Bangladesh.
TIB (Transparency International, Bangladesh) report in its latest research confirmed that corruption continues. Economists say many investors are holding back before staking their money in a country where the problem appears to be endemic. They believe that holding the line on violent crime is important to attract aid and investment to the impoverished country which has a history marred by frequent violence. Bangladesh reported a loss of nearly 3 per cent of annual GDP to corruption this year. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of ex-prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia says the government is ineffective generally on law and order. Sheikh Hasina assumed office in January this year after winning what most independent observers considered a clean election.
Hasina’s vow to tackle problems ranging from poverty to crime, to ensure a modicum of stability and attract aid and investment that would lift the standard of living in the country where roughly 40 per cent of the population earn less than $1 a day is being met with sarcasm in different political sections nationwide.
Common man believes corruption has spread like cancer in Bangladesh which is also hampering the aid and development activities. The government denies any such allegations and says that monitors base their judgment mainly on often inflated media reports.
Political analysts in Bangladesh are sure that like the previous governments, the current rulers have also weakened the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to use it to their own advantages. Independent critics of corruption say the moves to go after the previous administration’s corruption fighters signals that Bangladesh’s politicians are not serious about tackling graft, which has benefited many of them.
US Ambassador in Bangladesh, James Moriarty recently said, “Anti-Corruption efforts are a key component of any government’s responsibility. We fully support Bangladesh’s efforts to combat corruption that has too long robbed Bangladeshis of the fruits of their labour. Unfortunately, we see no firm commitment or action by the government or law enforcing agencies to combat it.”
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