When lawmakers break the law

News of transgressions by public servants and elected officials are so common that one no longer feels surprised hearing of them, but this instance perhaps takes the cake. In the leaked tape of an alleged conversation between a member of parliament and officer-in-charge of Keshabpur police station, the MP was heard asking the OC to stage a bomb attack on the police station to frame a local environmentalist for arson, and also to set fire to a brick kiln using plainclothes policemen and then frame him for dacoity. The environmentalist, a lawyer by profession, is working in conjunction with an organisation to close down the brick kilns in Jashore, most of them illegal. These kilns are doing irreparable damage to the environment, particularly to the date palm trees for which Jashore is famous. And that is what has apparently incurred the MP's wrath. What makes the matter more reprehensible and ironic is that the said MP happens to be a member of the parliamentary committee on forests and environment.

The incident, startling as it is, reveals a few things about governance, rule of law and the level of moral and ethical depredation in society. We have, over the years, seen may instances of the practice of using law enforcing agencies and local administration to meet the personal agenda of some people in power. Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul, a Bangladeshi MP abroad, who was convicted for crimes like bribery, human trafficking and money laundering, is a case in point.

The latest incident also shows how illegal traders, in this case the brick kilns owners, thrive on political patronage. Reportedly, not only is this kiln illegal, it has received the patronage of local MPs over the years. It also reveals the relationship between some members of the law enforcing agencies and local MPs, not in terms of performing beneficial work for the public good, but in conniving and helping to violate the law and specific orders of the court. The brick kiln in question has been declared illegal by the High Court.

Members of Parliament are representatives of the public and are the repository of our trust. An MP asking the police to resort to an illegal act is a culpable act that demands action from the Speaker of the Parliament. We expect a thorough investigation of the incident, with no attempts to whitewash or brush it under the carpet. The government should protect the lawyer in question, who is working in the public interest, from any kind of intimidation or threat to his personal safety.