Monday, Mar 11, 2002
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By Haroon Habib
Begum Zia, who completed five months in office today, ruled out the deployment of Army to combat the deteriorating law and order situation though some ruling party leaders suggested the option. She also hinted that a new law, if needed, would be enacted to curb violence. Begum Zia repeated her allegation against the Awami League each time she was asked about the rise in crime rate at a news conference here on Saturday. The conference was organised to brief journalists on the outcome of the just-concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet in Australia. Expressing her Government's resolve to combat the growing acts of terrorism, Begum Zia, who heads the ruling coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — to which she belongs — and the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, denied reports that most of those arrested in connection with the recent acts of crime were BNP activists. When her attention was drawn to newspaper reports which said that, on an average, about 8 persons were killed in the country everyday and those who were arrested on charges of attack, loot, extortion, rape and murder mostly belonged to the ruling BNP, Begum Zia claimed that law and order had, in fact, improved under the caretaker government and during the five months of her rule. She alleged that the Awami League, led by the former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was engaging in violence to ``cover up the limitless corruption and terrorism committed by it during its five-year tenure.'' Citing the recent arrest of Sheikh Hasina's personal assistant, Bahauddin Nasim, she said her Government would spare no one found guilty of disturbing law and order. Asked if she had any specific information on opposition-sponsored terrorism, she said: ``I do have information that the opposition is conspiring to deteriorate law and order.'' Sheikh Hasina, for her part, blamed the ruling coalition for the unabated acts of violence. Referring to the "atrocities" against her party workers, she wondered whether in the name of democracy, ``martial law'' was in force in the country. ``Democracy is in name, martial law is in force — people want to get rid of this situation.'' The Awami League also accused the Government for not allowing a parliamentary delegation of the party to meet Mr. Nasim in Dhaka central jail. The delegation alleged that police had resorted to "inhuman physical torture'' of Mr. Nasim, who was arrested from the airport when he was on his way to the U.S. on February 28. Police recently failed to produce Mr. Nasim in the court despite its order.
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