Daily Times

Some 14 years after the “2004 grenade attack”, the Bangladeshi courts have reached a final verdict in the attempted assassination of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Given that she has held this post for close to a decade suggests that the country’s due process does not speed up even for heads of government.

According to the ruling, some 19 people have been awarded the death penalty. These include two former ministers. Meanwhile, Tarique Rahman, the son of former PM Khaleda Zia and acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), faces a life sentence. Though he has been living in London in self-exile since 2008 to avoid the same corruption charges related to the Zia Orphanage Trust that saw his mother begin a five-year custodial sentence at the beginning of the year. Rahman was sentenced to a decade behind bars.

That it has taken so long to arrive here allows those indicted to cry foul; claiming political persecution. This is compounded by the fact that Dhaka is scheduled to hold general elections by the year’s end. Yet the fact the investigation has not held back from going after the senior politicians signals thoroughness. At least in relative terms; when seen through Pakistani eyes. After all, the people of this country are still waiting for some kind of tangible justice in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

In fact, the assassination attempt against Sheikh Hasina shares several similarities with the killing of the twice-elected Pakistani PM. The former was, at the time, leader of the opposition. And her Awami League (AL) was in the middle of holding a rally when it came under fire. Hasina was fortunate enough to be saved by a human shield. Nevertheless, some 24 people were killed and up to 300 injured as a total of 13 grenades were lobbied into the 20,000-strong crowd from nearby rooftops.

Over here, the citizenry will be keen to see how the state goes about bringing Rahman back to Bangladesh to face the music. London, after all, has in the past proved quite the safe-haven for certain politicians from this part of the world. And as is the case with Islamabad, Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Dhaka. Though this has not stopped Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the PM’s son and special advisor on ICT (Information and Communications Technology) from going down the same tried-and-failed path as this country. That is, calling on Downing Street to do the needful. While approaching Interpol for a new Red Notice to pick up Rahman on charges of murder and terrorism.

Joy might do well not to hold his breath on either count. *

Published in Daily Times, October 14^th 2018.