Democracy impossible without ensuring rule of law

Law is not just a policy or process for governing a state; in the modern world, law is the fundamental basis of a state's psychological behavior. Law not only legitimises the government but also gives rights to individuals. When the Romans first preserved Greek laws and their own, they also granted certain rights to individuals, making it clear to the people that law exists to protect them!

There is at least 3,000 years of history associated with the evolution of law. Understanding the psychology behind the establishment and enforcement of law is an extremely complex matter. From thousands of years of political history, people have at least been able to assert that the state belongs to the people, and the government is their servant. But what we are seeing is that through legal processes, the government is becoming the ruler of the people, not their servant. Especially in the context of Bangladesh, this is profoundly true. Even in the past 43 years, the rule of law has not been established in Bangladesh. And because of that, we have repeatedly gone through bad situations. Day by day, the law seems to be becoming even more terrifying.

After the ouster of the Awami fascist regime, we had hoped that proper and fair rule of law would return to Bangladesh. But the tide and time have started flowing in the opposite direction. Since the July-August uprising, widespread murder cases and arrests have been ongoing in Bangladesh. According to news received from the media on Wednesday (May 21), based on information from the police headquarters, a total of 1,499 cases have been filed across the country since August 5. These cases include allegations of murder, attempted murder, attacks, vandalism, assault, arson, intimidation, looting, extortion, and land grabbing. Among them, 599 are murder cases, and the remaining 900 are other types of cases. Of these, a total of 324 cases have been filed against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in police stations and lower courts across the country.

Questions have been raised about the 'basis' of many of the cases, as well as about the right to arrest and bail. These issues were brought to the forefront again through the arrest of actress Nusrat Faria on Monday and her release on bail on Tuesday. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Said Ahmed Raja told the media, "Pick and choose is being done in arrests and bail." In other words, people are being picked up at will. In many cases, real and major criminals are getting away, while someone barely involved in a minor offense is being arrested and a kind of dramatic situation is being created.

It has been reported that in these sweeping cases, names of individuals have been included to the extent that even the complainant doesn't know who the accused really is! There are growing allegations of demanding money by making someone an accused, threatening to include them in a case, or offering to remove their name from a case for money. There are also allegations that the police are involved in this kind of 'business.' In fact, not just with the general public—there are even allegations that the police have demanded bribes from their own colleagues by threatening to frame them in genocide cases.

This means an extremely chaotic situation is ongoing in the country. And even from the government side, conflicting statements are being made. The government itself carries out or orders the arrests, and then someone else from the same government criticizes those actions. This indicates that there is no real central coordination within the government itself. So then, who will be arrested and why—shouldn't the government know that? It is being said that even senior government authorities are unaware of many of the arrests. And we have seen that arrests have been made through mob justice, and bail has also been granted under mob justice.

Observing the current situation in the country, many who were deeply involved in the mass uprising have also expressed concern. Many are asking: was this what the mass uprising was for? The general public demands the establishment of the true rule of law. Politicians and legal experts are also saying that without the establishment of genuine rule of law, a democratic environment will not return. And if a democratic environment does not return, this kind of chaos will only continue to grow—something that is in no way desirable.