Ensure swift justice for Khadija
There is no excuse
for criminality by BCL or any other student or political group for that matter
Brutal, barbaric or beastly? The human mind fails to come up with a word (or words) to describe the butchery perpetrated on Khadija Akter Nargis by Badrul Alam, a leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League. Alam in broad daylight used a cleaver to virtually chop up the young lady in broad daylight in front of dozens of people apparently because he was spurned in love.
The reverberations of the ghastly act were felt throughout the country, a place where people learn to expect the unexpected and are exposed to blood and gore regularly. However, even here people were shocked into numbness initially before coming out on the streets in various places of the country to protest and demand exemplary punishment for the man in question.
Badrul Alam has been expelled from his educational institute. Incidentally BCL has tried to distance itself from Alam but there can be no denying the fact that he is the assistant secretary of the BCL unit at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
A section of activists and leaders of the student and youth wings of the major political parties have been imbued with a sense of power and impunity and have indulged in the most ghastly of acts.
Indeed, this is hardly the first time such an incident has besmirched the reputation of the student and youth wing of Awami League. We urge the BCL higher-ups to act strongly and clean its stable. They must see to it that no member of the organization tries to defend a wrongdoer just because he is its member. It is equally necessary to ensure that there is no obstruction towards the path of justice taking its own course.
We also urge the senior leaders of AL to take exemplary punitive measures against the errant members. The people must not get the impression that the measures that are taken do not become a case of too little and too late.
The prevailing feeling of impunity among a section of BCL and Juba League activists and leaders must be dealt a blow. And that blow must be a decisive one and the campaign against these criminals should start. The concerned bodies must show relentless determination to bring a halt to criminal elements getting entrance in an organization like BCL which has such a glorious history.
There is no excuse for criminality by BCL or any other student or political group for that matter. In the meantime we hope that the girl recovers and comes back to her vivacious life again.
