Opinion: Bangladesh becoming safe haven for MPs!
Bangladesh appears as a safe haven for MPs.
To enjoy unlimited immunity and freedom, one just needs to be an MP of the ruling party.
Take the latest example of Awami League MP Abdur Rahman Bodi who again beat up a government official on Wednesday in his constituency in Cox's Bazar. He punished Mostofa Minhaz, Ukhia upazila engineer, for not attending an Upazila Parishad meeting.
The AL lawmaker has kept assaulting people in his constituency since 2009 immediately after he became an MP. School teachers, forest and bank officials, a Road and Highway official, a freedom fighter and a lawyer among many others were assaulted by him.
He had faced little trouble for these offences. The only reason is he is an MP of the ruling AL.
Bodi has built his kingdom in Cox's Bazar. He has appeared to be the godfather of Yaba trade. He has been named in the list of Yaba smugglers prepared by the home ministry. His three brothers, brother-in-laws and some other relatives have also been listed as traders of the contraband drugs.
He had just faced trouble for a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement. For this he had once landed in jail in October 2014.
Take another latest example. AL lawmaker from Natore-2 Shafiqul Islam Shimul snatched away "a criminal" from Rab custody immediately after his arrest in Natore town on Tuesday night. A number of local AL leaders and journalists witnessed the incident.
They yesterday said Shimul, also general secretary of Natore district AL, and his men got into an altercation with Rab personnel, shouted at them and then took away Redwan Sabbir in handcuffs. Sabbir, who gained notoriety for his criminal activities in Natore, is wanted in at least a dozen cases, according to local police and AL activists.
What Bodi and Shimul have done is no way uphold their image as MPs. Their activities rather undermined the dignity of MPs.
But what they have done is nothing new and surprising at all. Some of their former colleagues in previous years have done these.
Take some more examples. AL MP Golam Maula Rony, a ruling Awami League MP, on July 20, 2013 mercilessly beat up two newsmen of Independent TV.
Kamal Ahmed Majumder, an AL MP of the capital, in 2012 assaulted a woman television journalist at Monipur High School and College at Mirpur in the capital where she had gone to seek his comment on the school authorities' decision to charge admission fees way beyond the amount fixed by the government. Kamal is chairman of the school's managing committee.
In Pabna, AL MP Golam Faruk Khandaker Prince openly adopted a stance against the district administration in September 2010 when his alleged demand for recruiting his party men in government service was not met by the then deputy commissioner. Rebuffed, Jubo League and Chhatra League men attacked the administration officials, including a female magistrate, while the recruitment examinations were going on.
There is more. AL lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon was sued over the killing of party leader Ibrahim Ahmed in the capital in August 2010. Local AL leader Ibrahim was reportedly shot with the MP's licensed pistol.
Policemen, who have gone to the extent of beating up opposition MPs and journalists, were also assaulted by the ruling AL MPs.
In Dhaka, AL MP Ilias Uddin Mollah assaulted an on-duty policeman on June 30, 2010. The policeman filed a case against Ilias. He was reelected an MP of the current parliament.
Another AL MP, Sheikh Afil Uddin of Jessore, assaulted the officer-in-charge of a police station of his constituency in August 2010. He also became an MP of the current parliament.
And AL MP Captain (retd) Ghyas Uddin Ahmed in May 2012 opened fire on a crowd to thwart an agitation against him in his constituency in Mymensingh.
There are more examples. But no exemplary action has been taken against any of those MPs. Rather, Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Golam Faruk Khandker, Nurunnabi, Sheikh Afil, Ilias Mollah, and Bodi were re-elected as MPs in the January 5 parliamentary elections.
So, AL MPs Bodi and Shimul need not be worried for their unruly behaviour.
Thing is different in UK, the birth place of Westminster model of democracy. An MP there faces little restriction to carry out his parliamentary duties. But s/he faces numerous legal restrictions in carrying out his activities which are not linked to his/her parliamentary jobs. There are laws, rules, code of conduct and conventions imposing bar on MPs from behaving unruly and engaging in dishonest activities.
In Bangladesh, our constitution and political culture however have imposed numerous restrictions on MPs to do their parliamentary jobs. For this the parliament remains dysfunctional. But they are hyperactive outside of parliament and face little restrictions to carry out all those works.
For this they just need to be MPs of the ruling party.
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