Govt must arrest, punish road safety protest attackers

THE school and college students had taken to the streets, since July 29, for nine days, demanding justice for the death of two of their fellows in a traffic accident and seeking road safety by putting an end to the chaos in the road transport administration. 

But while they had been on the streets, especially in the later days, in August 3–6, groups of young people, wearing helmets or with their face wrapped around with pieces of cloth, attacked the school and college students who were holding peaceful protests, first at Jigatala, and then elsewhere. The groups, brandishing arms and sharp weapons in daylight roaming about the areas where students were holding protests, also attacked, in a few cases grievously, the journalists who were covering the protests. 

A few of the journalists had to be treated in hospital for longer periods. The attackers also broke mobiles and cameras of the journalists. The law enforcers, who were standing guards in the areas, are reported to have been in complicit with the attacks as they did not lift a finger to deter the armed attackers; in some cases, they are rather reported to have aided the attackers. Yet after all this, no cases have been filed against the attackers and none has so far been arrested.

While the protesters and the media say that the attackers were activists of the Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, the government has remained silent about them. The law enforcers should have arrested them in any way their being Chhatra League activists, people from the opposition political camps or others as they brandished arms and weapon in daylight, roamed about the areas armed and attacked the school and college students and journalists. The job of the law enforcers is to deter crimes of any kind and arrest anyone standing in conflict with the law that ensures people’s safety. 

But, unfortunately, the law enforcers are reported to have aided them. The attackers wore helmets and their faces were wrapped around with pieces of cloths. But many of them were in plain sight and newspapers and television channels published reports and footage from which the attackers could be easily traced. The government’s eerie silence about them and mysterious inaction in this connection corroborate the media reports that the attackers were from the Chhatra League.

While attacks on peaceful protests of school and college students, which are awfully wrong, is in no way acceptable, the attacks on the journalists constitute an affront to the freedom of expression and the media, which is guaranteed by the constitution. While the students have every right to resent, peacefully, any wrong that has taken place in the road transport administration for decades, the journalists have the right to do what they are mandated to do keeping to the law. The government, in a situation like this, must arrest the attackers and punish them after credible and fair investigation.

• Courtesy: New Age/Editorial/Aug 19, 2018