Exim Bank, ‘Extraction’ and the question of justice

The iconic villain of Bangladeshi cinema, Dipjal, used to have a common line, “I’ll kill you after a cup of tea.” But that’s an old dialogue. The new line is, “I will shoot and cripple you for life.” Just like in the movie, this dialogue was also delivered in a drunken state.

The two against whom such allegations have been brought about are owners of Sikder Group, Ron Haque Sikder and Dipu Haque Sikder. No hero has emerged in the scene as yet. The tortured Exim Bank MD and additional MD are victims. The villains are reportedly in hiding. Now it is to be seen what action is being taken by the government, in the role of the hero.

Sikder Group MD had rolled down the black glass window of his car and shot at the Exim Bank MD, but the bullet just whizzed past his ear, missing by a hair’s breadth. The MD could have met the same fate as the Gazipur city corporation engineer Delwar Hossain if the bullet hadn’t missed.

Delwar Hossain was killed just a few days before Eid because he had refused to be involved in corrupt dealings. The two MDs of Exim Bank were shot at, threatened, abducted and tortured as they didn’t come up with an unlawful Tk 5 million (Tk 500 crore) loan for the Sikder Group.

This movie, oops, it was a real incident, not a movie! Anyway, things heated up further when the two MDs were abducted at gunpoint and taken to Sikder House in the posh Banani area where they were kept under the watch of foreign guards. I don’t know if there is any law about having foreign security guards, but the MDs were told these guards would torture them if they didn’t sign blanks sheets of paper. They signed and escaped that torture.

All this was detailed in the case statement filed by the Exim Bank MDs. This happened on 7 May, but the incident was revealed on 27 May. What happened in those 20 days is unclear.

The investigators will surely probe into what else the Sikder Group did to get the loan and also to cover up the incident. We have heard that common people, political workers, intellectuals and top bankers have been victims of such harassment, abduction and torture. Panic swept through the bankers of the country. They are shocked that such an incident could happen during the coronavirus pandemic. They said this only went to show how loans were taken and not repaid. An MD said, if there is such harassment, how will the banks run? Unless action is taken, no one is safe.

Even if you are very powerful, or if you simply stay away from trouble, there is no guarantee that you will not be a victim one day. No one can escape.

“Who do you think you are that you dare to disobey me?” This is a sheer expression of ‘might is right’. Such language emerges when law, order and justice are rendered meaningless.

Journalist Kajal must have had to listen to similar dialogue when he was abducted. It’s not just the Sikder Group, there are many groups of the same ilk. Some incidents come to light, some do not. And there are no instances of any action being taken against them. Debate and differences are sorted out by sheer force. This is the way things are done in Bangladesh, be it in politics, business or any instance where dissension crops up. So the Sikder brothers just followed the norm.

If banks loans are taken in this manner, forcefully, how will the banks do business? How will actual businessmen get loans? Engineer Delwar Hossain was killed because of his honesty. If the MDs of big banks are nearly killed by the brothers of a woman MP, what is to be done? To whom will we turn?

Only recently there was a lot of hue and cry in Bangladesh over a Hollywood Netflix movie, ‘Extraction’. In the movie, a Bangladesh mafia villain abducts a Mumbai mafia don’s son and brings him to Bangladesh. An Australian mercenary is hired to rescue the mafia son. The foreign actor’s heroics were something to be seen. But the gun-filled streets of Dhaka, the law and enforcement’s support for the mafia and such, enraged the patriotic Bangladeshis. A critic, while reviewing the film, raised the question: While ‘Extraction’ may have twisted reality, can the truth within the story be denied? Is the reality in this film our future, or our present?

The manner in which the Sikder Group brothers rolled down the car window and opened fire in broad daylight and had foreign security guards ready to torture their victims, leaves little doubt in one’s mind.

Readers, I have my answer.

Okay, so the riddle has been answered. What about justice?

Faruk Wasif is assistant editor of Prothom Alo and can be reached at [email protected]. This piece has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir