Security in custody still non-existent

The viral video clips of mobs lashing out at political detainees have been indicative of the government's failure to provide safety in police custody. Through its 15-year term, the Awami League regime had turned it into a matter of practice to harass and persecute its political opponents and as such people had come to accept ill-treatment of prisoners and violation of human rights as part and parcel of the previous regime.

However, the recent clips of a former Supreme Court judge being manhandled at the border and then set upon by a mob on court premises in Sylhet, were rather revolting. That the border guards would presume to be at liberty to drag around a senior citizen of Bangladesh, regardless of his criminality, tie him up and lead him by the collar like an animal does not leave room for doubt that security or dignity in the custody of law enforcers is as non-existent today as they were during the previous regime.

It should not have mattered one bit that this former Appellate Division justice happens to be AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury, infamous for his blatant partisanship and several other instances of abuse of his office for personal gains as well as to persecute political opponents. One may be the vilest criminal but their treatment in custody must be humane.

More popularly known by his nickname Manik, the 75-year-old former judge was viciously beaten by a mob waiting for him on the premises of the Sylhet magistrate's court. The judge was injured under a flurry of slaps, punches and kicks. A long time diabetic and suffering from hypertension, Shamsuddin Chowdhury was referred to the hospital by the prison doctor later in the evening with a ruptured testicle. He is reported to be improving after surgery.

This incident lays bare the pathetic level of security in custody. The video clips refute any claim that the government might have as regards its upholding rights of prisoners and not causing them undue harassment.

It is during the toughest times that one's resolve is best tested. It is also the government's treatment of the worst offenders that will prove their commitment to rights and legal justice. With so many looking up to this government with high hopes and aspirations, every such infringement would not only fail the government but it would also fail the people.

We can only hope that the home adviser takes note and makes sure that such an act does not recur.