Brahmanbaria-2 lawmaker Rumeen Farhana has raised the alarm in National Parliament over a surge in mob violence across the country, warning that a culture of impunity is fuelling increasingly brutal incidents of vigilante justice.
Speaking during a notice motion in the National Parliament session chaired by Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal, Farhana expressed grave concern over one incident after another of so-called mob justice in recent months, blaming a growing culture of impunity for the alarming trend.
Farhana pointed out that no institution was immune to the breakdown in order. From the Governor of Bangladesh Bank to the Supreme Court Bar Association, she said, public safety could not be guaranteed anywhere.
She cited mob attacks inside the Barishal court premises and within the lawyers' room at the Supreme Court, which she said was tarnishing the dignity of the judiciary.
Among the incidents she highlighted were an attack on The Daily Star offices, a man beaten to death on suspicion of mugging in Chittagong a year and a half ago, and the brutal killing of a complainant in Kushtia " all of which, she said, reflected a worrying social decay.
The MP launched a sharp critique of the Home Minister, who she said had repeatedly promised that mob culture and a culture of impunity would end. Yet, she said, such incidents continued unabated, one after another. When people do not receive justice, she argued, they are driven toward such lawless behavior.
Farhana said a deep sense of frustration, anger and discrimination pervaded society, and that the root cause of the current situation was the failure to bring criminals to justice.
She cited the Chittagong lynching case from 18 months ago, noting that no trial has taken place to date, as an example of this breakdown.
The lack of exemplary punishment is encouraging mob culture, she said. She concluded by urging the Home Ministry to take swift and stringent measures to restore public safety across the country.
