THE remark of the ruling Awami League’s general secretary, Obaidul Quader, that former inspector general Benazir Ahmed and former army chief Aziz Ahmed — now mired in controversy and hordes of corruption allegations — were no one of the Awami League is nothing short of a ruse to shrug off the responsibility for the misdeeds that the two have committed by abusing and misusing their powers. The Awami League leader, also the road transport and bridges minister, at a party’s representatives’ meeting in Dhaka on June 4 also said the two had become chiefs of their respective force in their own rights. The remark also appears illogical enough as supersession has, in general, largely marked such appointment and political consideration such as allegiance to the ruling party has a role to play in this. The general secretary of the Awami League has further said that if wrongdoings of the former chiefs of the two forces are found, there would be no dearth of courage to hold them to justice. The remark further shows the Awami League’s efforts to shrug off the moral responsibility of the offences that the two have perpetrated. But the two are very much part of the regime, the Awami League and the government in presides over.
The United States Treasury imposed sanctions on the former inspector general, and some other serving and former officials of the Rapid Action Battalion, in early December 2021 on allegations of involvement in gross rights violation when he headed the battalion. Washington towards the end of May also imposed restrictions on the entry of the former army chief and his family to the United States over corruption. The two have stood in severe conflict with the laws and brought heaps of ignominy down on the nation. Yet, some government and ruling party leaders are making statements and showing an attitude that points to a ploy of the Awami League to wash hands of the issues. What the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission have done in the case of the former inspector general of police suggests that he had been allowed to leave the country, as he is reported to have done, before any official proceedings began against him. None of the Awami League or the government can, therefore, brush aside the responsibility for the crimes that the two have committed and there is no scope for either the Awami League or the government to try to wash hands out of the matter. This is also hardly believable that the people high up in the government had not known of the corruption that the two were doing.
While people facing charges of corruption involving a small amount of money, such as the former prime minister Khaleda Zia, also the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have been convicted, there must be no scope for the two facing corruption charges involving a far greater amount of money not to be held to account. It is time the Awami League and the government buckled down to hold the two to justice.
