'Things fall apart, centre cannot hold...'

The above picture has been cited just to show the extent to which law and order in Bangladesh has deteriorated. This post-editorial does not touch upon the elusive chances of Bangladesh to remain unhurt in the fiercely competitive global market of ready-made garments in the post-MFA world. Rather it focuses on the country-wide reign of terror and fright let loose by the fast slide in law and order.

Over the last couple of months, hardly a day has passed in Bangladesh that has not witnessed at least a dozen cases of mindless killing, robbery, abduction and related crimes, especially in its cities. It is only the sensational cases that are reported in the press, the rest that occur throughout the country remain mostly unnoticed. As is witnessed commonly, in the rural areas a sizeable number of victims of different kinds of crimes prefer to skulk around despite being persecuted socially. Out of the fear for reprisals, they do not report their cases to the law enforcers -- which in a way helps given a shot in the arms of the criminals. The scenario in the city is not much different. Owing to its proximity to the media, people are able to get first-hand information on an urban crime. But still, in the city too many cases of crime go unreported. Those which find a place in the media do not necessarily see a positive outcome. Many murder and abduction cases end up being mere cruel 'mystery plays,' much to the chagrin and nausea of the victims' close ones. The latest spree of abduction, perhaps, began with businessman Jamal Uddin, who was spirited away from his hometown Chittagong quite a few months ago, and is yet to be traced. Many believe, a formidable gang operating in the port city and its adjoining hills is behind his sudden disappearance. Of the series of continued abductions for extracting money in the form of ransom, the one that had triggered country-wide outcry and condemnation was the incident which saw one of the directors of a renowned tourist resort in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) district of Bandarban slipping into the clutches of a band of obscure kidnappers. To the relief of the resort authorities, the said director was released on 24 February after three weeks, reportedly upon paying Taka 15 lakh in ransom money to his captors, who have fled into the deep forest after being chased by a phalanx of joint forces. Although the director of the highly reputable hill resort managed to secure his freedom, none can deny the fact that tourism in the CHT region from now on will be accompanied by fear and a large amount of jitters. The incident, in which a group of foreign tourists were also traumatised, has every grim potential of leaving a damaging impact on tourism in this idyllic region of the CHT. To speak without mincing words, it has dealt a great blow to our slowly fledgling tourism industry. Already scores of violent and savage acts meted out to foreign tourists over the last few years throughout the country have sullied the national image. With the continuation of apathy towards tourists from abroad coupled with the fast deterioration of law and order, days are not far for the nation to brace for much worse times.

Abductions, some leading to brutal killings, have lately assumed the symbolic shape of a hydra-headed monster. It is high time the authorities concerned put in the best of their efforts to annihilate this nightmare. The authorities can indulge in foot dragging, but that will be at their own peril. Already lawlessness has all but crippled the pace of, to repeat the cliche-ridden words, our national development. The fallout of law and order situation on every segment of Bangladesh society has long been eating away at the nation's vitals, eroding the people's trust in those in power, and bringing the masses onto the verge of a horrifying chasm.

Of late, we have heard a lot of impatient exhortations on the country's ever-sliding law and order from our big donors. Theirs do not appear to be a tall order. Any nation or its government pledge-bound to improve the lot of the people should combine all its efforts to ensure peace in every sector of society. It is the only prerequisite to development. The way things are unravelling in the country only speaks of the government's lackadaisical attitude to this vital issue. It seems, when it comes to improving the country's law and order they could not careless. As a nation, we have, perhaps, become inured to criminalities. All this points to a gangrenous rot that is fast spreading into the deep layers of society. Unless its menacing progress can be stopped, we are headed for an apocalypse of sorts, and will be doomed to become a pariah in the world community.

A great irony of our periodic anti-crime campaign is the launch of operations comprising personnel from different forces. People have great expectations from them. But as if they were performing in an Absurd Play, what the members of these joint operations in reality have done amount to acting out scenes which seem to have their foci on harassment of the commoners, excesses and overkill that mostly result in the arrest of petty criminals. The big honchos of the underground, along with their cache of arms, have remained ever elusive. To put it caustically, the anti-crime operations conducted by the joint forces under different names at different times have not yielded anything which the government can take pride in. Instead, the joint forces' alleged rash behaviour with people and their tendency to go overboard in many cases expedited their isolation from society. This malady has gripped the country for over a decade. Since almost all of us have been bearing the brunt of lawlessness for a long time, we had better refrain ourselves from singling out a particular government for this alarming slide in law and order. Yet the bitter truth is, with days passing by, the overall law and order scenario is only getting grimmer. Despite the government's repeated vow to stem the tide of criminal activities with 'iron hand,' its actions in the field earn little credibility -- from which the long-suffering people can take heart. In fact, the anti-crime or anti-terrorism campaigns in Bangladesh have become mere routine exercises. This ill reputation ought to be wiped out. And the sooner the better.

Given the pervasive anarchy that has lately beleaguered the country, with no area of society being spared, the star-crossed people cannot but become rueful fatalists. But could this bail us out from the everyday chaos and mayhem we are in? The answer is an emphatic NO. Yet to our woes, a frightful demon stalks the nation, with premonitory clouds looming overhead making the nation cowered in fear and brace for an ominous darkness. At this critical hour, the immortal lines of WB Yeats keep echoing around us: "Things fall apart, centre cannot hold..."

Shihab Sarkar is a poet and journalist.