Mob rule will decline when rule of law is established: Home adviser

Mob rule will automatically decline when the rule of law Is established in the country, said Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam today (11 February).

"There has been unrest in the last 15 years. If we - the police, court, prosecutor - cannot say every murder will be tried, every disappearance will be tried, justice will be served for 15 years of anarchy what is the point of us being here [in this position]?" he said while addressing a wokshop at the Bangladesh Police Auditorium in the capital's Rajarbagh.

In the wake of the country's recent situation, the police organised the workshop on law enforcement, with an emphasis on human rights and the environment.

"What will we answer to our conscience, to our code of conduct, to our oath, to the Creator?" he added.

Mob mentality only exists when people see that the police, court are not functioning properly, he said adding, "We consider the mob rule a very terrible thing."

He said, "People will only move away from mob justice when they see the police and law work properly."

He hoped a tolerable situation will be created in the country. People actually want to see that the state actually exists, the state exists through its organisations, through its institutions, he added.

He urged all to show more responsibility, coordinate, and cooperate amongst themselves.

He also asked the police to make sure no criminal can escape from the clasp of law enforcement.

The home adviser said that one of the main goals of the current interim government is to ensure the security of people's lives and property, to ensure exemplary punishment by bringing fascists and their allies, miscreants, anarchists and terrorists under the law.

He said the fascist government has used the entire state machinery unfairly to remain in power. Currently, they are using the illegal wealth they have acquired in the last 15 years to express their position by creating anarchy in collaboration with evil forces.

The home affairs adviser said the police, Rapid Action Battalion, and members of the armed forces have arrested a significant number of these criminals through legal processes. The process is ongoing.

The "Operation Devil Hunt" operation has been launched from 8 February in coordination with the law enforcement agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs to bring the perpetrators of unrest and their accomplices under the law, said the home adviser.

Addressing the police officials present at the workshop he said, "You need to play the role of vigilant watchmen in establishing good governance. We do not want to see any criminal on the streets, in the market, in the field, or on the highway. We want to bring every criminal under the law. We want to ensure their trial."