They do not want to put the government in a “fix”, dear Minister Ashraf and Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. What “they” want is to bury us all and get rid of all those who do not agree with them. This is not about putting anyone in a “fix”, rather it is about putting everyone in body bags. The current government always points fingers at BNP but until now it has not been able to prove the existence of any connection, or convict even a single killer. The murderers of Avijit and six other people are still walking free, breathing air and going about their lives.

The killings of bloggers and social activists remind me of a different time from history – the targeted killings of the Bengali intellectuals in the waning days of the Liberation War in 1971. AQIS and ISIS are the direct ideological descendants of the thugs of Al-Badr from some fourty-two years ago. There is an unbending line from those killers to these killers. They want to silence the voices that can shed light on the truth and will sing for joy, for the sheer joy of life and living. Like Al-Badr they want to eliminate all nonconforming views and people. There can be no compromise or conciliation with these forces of darkness. They are absolutists and they persist on extreme scenarios. If we do not resist them the way we resisted Al-Badr back in 1971, I am afraid we are doomed to become yet another failed Islamic country.

The current government should take a minute and reconsider what they are saying. The finger pointing towards BNP or any other group makes no sense whatsoever. The murderers are trying to impose a way of life that people in BNP would not dream of in their worst nightmare. BNP also does not have the organizational wherewithal to undertake these attacks and get away free and clear. From a distance, BNP seems like a spent force which is losing elections and trying to hide behind personality cult worship. It is not a cohesive force, let alone a militant force capable of killing people almost simultaneously in far off places like Rajshahi and Dhaka. BNP is not coming back. What is rising up is a far more sinister force, one that has no qualms about killing people just because. There need not be any rational reason, just mayhem in the name of Allah, whether or not Allah has sanctioned such violence not even a matter of discussion.

A government, any government, exists because the people have given it the consent to have a monopoly of violence. The bargain people make is this: in return for this monopoly of violence, the government must provide security. In terms of a country’s stability, providing security is the single most important factor. Inability to provide adequate security for the citizens can and will destroy countries. Just look at Iraq after the American misadventure, Syria and Afghanistan today and many other small and large countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Ukraine.

The current Bangladeshi government is failing to provide the basic security needs of the people. Part of it is sheer incompetence and part of it the knee jerk cult of denial. In case of Xulhas and Tonoy there is also another misdeed at play. The police and other institutions charged with protecting people systematically discriminate and harass people based on sexual orientation. Discriminating against homosexual people was and is a blood sport. Society has somehow convinced itself that, people are homosexual out of choice and not because they are just born that way. Science tells us that roughly 10% of any species is homosexual. The numbers are consistent across various human and animal populations. However, who cares about science. The casus belli seems to be that this minority is against God and everything that God has ordained. So they should be put to death. The homosexual community is Bangladesh are reluctant to seek help from police because they know that only results in further intimidation and harassment.

A member of the gay activist magazine Roopban, known as “Bappi”, told the Daily Telegraph in the UK that LGBT activists did not trust the police. “We don’t believe in the police,” he said. “I doubt whether seeking help will be of any use to us. Homosexuality is a punishable offence in Bangladesh and we don’t go to police, in order to avoid further harassment”.

So, the homosexual community in Bangladesh is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand the religious extremists are sharpening their machetes to kill them all and on the other hand the police is sitting on their thumbs.

To this mix throw in Awami League’s political tendency of blaming everything on the BNP and other political oppositions. The government spends more energy on a years-old case on kidnapping Joy than it does for finding justice for the murdered intellectuals like Avijit, Xulhas etc. What is that about? We are willing to accept some degree of incompetence on the part of the government and its law enforcement agencies. But the bigger issue is that Awami League is using the criminal justice System and the law enforcement agencies in its fight against other political parties. This is surely destroying Rule of Law in the country. A really interesting report by the International Crisis Group published on April 12, 2016 makes this point in no uncertain terms.

It is probably going to do no good asking for Rule of Law and Equality of Justice in the current environment. The hyper-partisan oppression through law enforcement agencies does not bode well for such things as Rule of Law. So, let me make a more prosaic appeal to the Prime Minister. Please find the killers of Avijit, Xulhas and all the other bloggers. Hang them high, and if they are BNP inspired, find the masterminds in the BNP and hang them too. If you cannot do this simple thing it is high time you stop playing politics and say that someone is putting you and your government in a “fix”. By failing to provide basic security and bringing murderers to justice it is you and your government that is putting the country in a “fix”.

Honourable Prime Minister, it is high time that we value the lives that are being lost to these murderers. We need to go after these guys with clarity of purpose. If your agencies cannot handle the situation it is high time to declare that your law enforcement agencies are not up to the job. Why not create a task force whose job would be to go after the killers? You can get some competent outside help. We need a combination of field intelligence and action. None of that is happening. Instead what is happening is loud hyperventilating about BNP and some other hapless entities.

Time to stop playing politics with human lives. Time to protect human lives.