RAB: Is it really a good idea?

I have been reading many articles about how good the RAB is and how they are protecting our fellow citizens. I can understand why someone would feel safer by the actions of RAB. What I can not understand how anyone justifies the unlawful killings by RAB in so called crossfire. These killings are gross violation of the fundamental laws of Bangladesh constitution. The very institution (government) that is supposed to uphold the constitution and the law is not only violating it but also institutionalizing this barbaric act. The government and the RAB is breaking the law and openly lying about it. This, IMHO, will only bring more lawlessness in the future.

The existing law enforcement agencies (mainly police) of Bangladesh are clearly not capable of or the government does not want to use them to control the lawlessness in Bangladesh. They must be overhauled and/or new organizations must be created to address this problem. RAB could be such an alternate organization. However, even if it is assumed that the goal of RAB is great, it is evident that RAB is doing everything wrong to achieve that goal.

It seems like many of us are not very fond of the Human Rights organizations, especially for their opposition to the human rights and fundamental rights (ensured by Bangladesh constitution) violation by governments and government institutions. Many keep asking where these human rights organizations were when all these people were murdered by the terrorists. I can understand the frustration of the victims of these crimes, but since when one wrong justifies another wrong? Are we saying that human rights violation by a criminal and by the government is the same thing? Because they do not follow the law of the land, they are the criminals. Then what is the difference then between the criminal and the government when both are violating the law and constitution of the country?

Many argue that the "quick justice" by the RAB is justified because the judicial system does not work. Criminals come in from one door and goes out from the other door. I understand the weaknesses of Bangladesh judicial system. I will very likely be in violation of Bangladesh law, if I criticize the judicial system of this country, but I am, consciously, willing to violate this law, as I feel the law itself is unjust. In any modern nation, you are in contempt of court if you do not obey an order by the court. In Bangladesh, unfortunately, the aged old colonial law prohibits anyone to even criticize the court or its decisions. All you need to do is say something about the judge/court that some judge does not like and you are in violation. It is urgent that we overhaul our judicial system so that it works. My question is why are we not fixing (or at least taking steps to fix) the judicial system then?

My biggest concern is the unchecked and unlimited power to this organization, RAB. This kind of absolute power, including murdering suspects, will ultimately create a bigger problem for the nation. Let’s look back to the very recent history of Bangladesh. If you remember, the law and order situation before Ershad’s coup in 1982 was pretty bad. Soon after the start of Ershad’s military rule, the law and order situation improved dramatically and corruption went down. But everyone remember how bad the law and order situation became towards the late 1980s and how the corruption had increased by many folds and had been institutionalized. The very system Ershad said he was going to fix and looked promising at the beginning to many, turned into a much bigger problem. I am afraid, the same is going to happen with RAB. Because of no accountability of their action and almost absolute power to execute “justice”, and given so many powerful criminal forces both within and outside the government, soon RAB will become part of the problem and not the solution.

Some have suggested that this is a temporary containment, while the system is fixed. I do not see any urgency or interest (except for sweet talks about it) of current BNP government in fixing the system.

Some say we are a bad nation; some say logic and rule of law will not work for Bangladesh. Is this not our colonial mentality that some of us somewhat feel inferior and we are not capable of doing anything good? This is pure nonsense. I think we are capable of doing lot more. We just have to start…

The lawlessness and corruption in Bangladesh is the result of hundreds of years of oppression by colonial rule and today it is deeply rooted in our society and government organizations. There is no simple or overnight solution to this problem. It’s truly encouraging that the BNP government wants to do something about it, but taking shortcuts and easy way out will not solve the problem, it will only make it worst. We must take the RIGHT road now and not the easy road…