The government is contemplating issuing a 16-point charter of directives to different administrative tiers to take necessary steps to maintain communal
harmony in the country and to prevent any deterioration of the current situation, according to sources in the home ministry. Already the home ministry has prepared the
16-point charter of directives to send it to the cabinet division, which, in turn, will circulate it to the ministries and the field administration level, said the
sources. The government fears that vested quarters may use religious provocation to inflict harm on the minorities, they added.
Additional secretary (political) Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed told The Independent that the authorities concerned, even all field-level officials, have been asked to maintain
communal harmony. “Our law enforcement and intelligence agencies are watching the situation keenly,” he added.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Dr Mizanur Rahman told The Independent that certain elements may use the prevailing political unrest to create
communal tension in the country. “That’s why we’ve sent a guideline to the home ministry to take necessary steps in this regard,” he said.
“The country may suffer if the government refrains from taking immediate preventive measures in this connection,” he added.
The 16-point directives are: 1) Those involved in communal violence should be tried under the Speedy Trial Tribunal; 2) All affected families should be rehabilitated
with adequate compensation through preparation of proper lists; 3) Punishment should be ensured for everyone responsible for carrying out attacks on the religious
minorities and their places of worship; 4) The Army and BGB should repair the homes and places of worship of the affected people to restore their trust in the
administration; 5) Committees should be formed with local residents of various professions to avert any recurrence of such incidents; 6) None should be implicated in
such cases due to local enmity and helpless people should not suffer; 7) Peaceful protests must be made at home and abroad against the evil activities of
fundamentalist groups like Jamaat-Shibir; 8) Anti-liberation officials should be removed from different tiers of the administration; 9) Those who are imbued with the
spirit of the Liberation War should be involved in the administration; 10) All elected representatives of people should be given specific directives to ensure security
at minority inhabited areas; 11) The families of those who were killed in the attacks of Jamaat-Shibir should be rehabilitated by the state; 12) The administration
must take steps at the field level to stop spreading of rumours; 13) The authorities should ensure that the accused cannot escape by political lobbying; 14)
Progressive political forces should be mobilised against religious fanatics who spread communal tension through their religious and political thinking; 15) The
government must take necessary preparations so that the minorities do not come under attack in future; 16) All law enforcement agencies should receive assistance from
the administration to bring to book those who has been identified as the tormentors of minorities.
Courtesy of The Independent
