Lawlessness Is Still Rampant

Innocents fall prey to violence, Restore law and order to bring back confidence.

Two weeks short of the first anniversary of the fall of previous govt, there is little improvement in law and order situation. Earlier govt said it would need 17000 fresh security personnel to hold a free and fair election. Training of constables requires 6 months and for the sub inspector it will take as long as one year. If the process of fresh recruitment has started in November, by this time we would have 4000 new police , still inadequate to fill the void created by deserted police personnel. Training of soldiers and paramilitary personnel takes a lot of time. What is interesting degradation of law and order is happening while the Army has the magistracy power.Meanwhile, govt is poised to hold an election at the earliest of 2026, an uphill task amid the restive situation on the ground.

Absence of democratic govt cost us dearly. Handling of the tariff dialogue with the USA is criticized right and left. Unless we are able to get a fair concession, we may lose a chunk of the US market. In addition, the democratic govt can handle the law and order condition better than any other form of govt. The economy is suffering dearly since grass-root law and order condition is in tatters. Small businesses and investors shelving up their plan for future. Meanwhile, whatever trickling flow of fund comes to the private sector is not finding any productive use due to the anarchy on the ground.

While govt is incapable of maintaining the law and order situation, it is not so wise to let the political parties to hold so many meetings across the sensitive areas. It complicated the situation.

If the flow of undocumented money into real estate is stopped, it will dramatically improve the law and order situation. This kind of dispute often takes into other forms including the political one and ends up in violence. With a special decree ,govt may stop the flow of illicit money into the real estate, thereby helping many vulnerable groups and families who often fall prey to such violence and add the number of homeless people.

Precondition for holding a fair election and fixing the battered economy is to restore the law and order condition quickly. If it requires foreign boots on the ground then the govt should do that. In Rakhine State, Myanmar allows foreign countries to recruit security personnel from abroad. Bangladesh should do the same in some areas and police deployed there maybe redeployed to other priority areas. Innocent and vulnerable individuals, groups and families fall victims to this lawlessness. Tally of the victims is the eye opener. Govt should walk extra mile to protect the lives of these innocent people.