Double murder in Motijheel: Stop tender manipulations and grabbing
It is more important to find the reason behind the murder than the assailants who shot and killed Zahidul Islam alias Tipu, the former general secretary of Motijheel thana Awami League in Dhaka. The murder took place at 10:15 pm on Thursday in the Amtala Mosque area of Shahjahanpur in the capital. Although Zahidul was the target of the miscreants, a college student named Samia Afsan was also killed in random firing. She was returning home with her friend.
According to police and Zahidul's family, he was receiving threats over phone before the murder. The question of why he or his wife who is also a local councillor, Farhana, did not report the matter to the police cannot be ruled out. According to some sources, this murder may be linked to the casino incident of 2019 and the assassination of Reazul Haque Khan Milki, the organising secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan Jubo League South on 29 July 2013. According to the media, the murder took place at the order of one of the top Bangladeshi fugitives living in Dubai, Zeeshan. Freedom Manik, a fugitive to India, is said to be in cahoots with terrorist Zeeshan.
Therefore, the murder of Zahidul Islam is just an instance of the vindictive act of the underground criminal world. In 2016, Motijheel area Juba League leader Rizvi Hasan alias Bocha Babu was killed. This Bocha Babu was close to Zahidul. One of the accused in the murder of Bocha Babu is Omar Farooq, who is also the leader of the local Awami League. Zahidul recently obstructed when step has been taken to drop Omar’s name from the case. An unidentified man then threatened to kill him over the telephone.
One murder after another is taking place in the infighting of the ruling party over local domination and bidding. Yet the government or the ruling party remained silent. The student who was returning home with her friend in a rickshaw, why did she have to die at the hands of terrorists? Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said that whoever killed Zahidul and Samia will be brought to justice. But what is the guarantee that the trial will be able to stop such murder? If tender manipulation, extortion and forced grabbing are not eliminated, more such murders will continue to happen.
The parents of the slain college student Samia said, "I seek punishment from whom? Who will I ask for justice?” Their statement expressed distrust not only towards the government but also towards the state. Samia's father Jamaluddin worked in a factory in Mirpur.
He was running his family with great difficulty. They rented out a room in their three-room apartment. Her mother Hosne Ara sews to raise money for her children's education. How will they overcome their grief with the arrest or trial of the accused?
Yet we believe the crime must be tried. Due to the lack of justice, underground criminal gangs are emerging. Terrorists can order murder even from abroad. The market that Awami League and Juba League leaders clashed over was occupied by a BNP leader during the BNP rule. Now it is in the possession of the Awami League leader. Although, the power changes, grabbing does not stop. Only the occupiers change.
We want justice for Zahidul's murder. Criminals should be awarded with maximum punishment. At the same time, the killings due to tender bidding and grabbing should be stopped forever.