Who killed Tonu?

Afsan Chowdhury
Published : 29 March 2016, 11:10 AM
Updated : 29 March 2016, 11:10 AM

The latest order that Tonu's body should be exhumed for another post-mortem is really bad news. How is that going to help and what difference does it make? Is it going to say that Tonu was not raped? That she was killed differently? What the authorities don't understand is that, each of their acts now is being read as an attempt to buy time. Whoever gave this idea was way far away from the public mood and it will only increase public anger. It's true that the present government party is very much at the top and fears no opposition party but this is also about the cantonment and the public perception that the authorities are a party to efforts to divert attention from the killers, whoever he or they may be.

Will someone please explain why the family of the murder and rape victim was grilled for an entire night after the body was found and what was the result of that "remand "?  Let's face it, many don't expect justice from the authorities, but is it too much to ask that common sense is involved in investigating rape and murders?

Tonu lay dead inside the cantonment area but the police can't go there to investigate. That we understand. But can the very people who live in the cantonment survive amidst such insecurity? After all, women and children live there too, don't they?

We know that Tonu's dad is not even an officer but a lowly clerk. Never mind that if everyone is supposed to be equal under the law, but the officers who man the cantonments should be worried about a murder in their midst shouldn't they? Or maybe it was a smart rapist who decided to go after Tonu, knowing that her family were nobodies and anyone with a little bit of clout can get away with rape and murder with the right connections in this country.

Bangla Tribume contacted the family and published its conversation with Tonu's brother, Nazmul Hossain. He has indicated that the family is under surveillance and can't talk freely, certainly not to outsiders. Their movements are restricted and they have been brought to their cantonment house. "We can't move as we wish. I will try to talk secretly." Does this sound like they are being treated as the family members of a murder victim or people under watch or as suspicious characters?

The Tonu incident has come at a time when the image of the government is under stress in several areas. In fact, the event has shown how social matters can be close generators of political situations as well.  Coming as it does in the fateful month of March, the situation has taken on huge emotional overtones. It has also put a question mark on the reach, extent and universality of the justice system in Bangladesh. Is it possible that in this country where formal and official institutions largely operate rather weakly, public confidence in the justice system is so weak that the street is considered equivalent to the houses of law?

The Shahbagh movement is a good example. It is significant beyond the realms of the cause of 1971. It challenged the decision of justice delivery on a very sensitive issue like war crime, and mobilized public opinion to the point that the government had to take them into reckoning. The streets confronted and ultimately contested the formal system.  In the end, the formal system had to give in and came to an "understanding" which gave it space and ultimately the advantage. But it also showed how powerful the informal system could be and the fundamental nature of the war crimes trial system was changed.

It comes at a time when protests are spreading and two government ministers have been fined on charges of contempt of court. The Chief Justice and his team have come out looking more independent than any previous SC in a long time. It would be good to remember that when the public is pleased that the Supreme Court has stood its ground on such a sensitive matter as war crimes, it should be taken far more seriously than it's being taken now. The PM had expressed her displeasure at the "lack of confidence" expressed by her ministers in the judiciary but the trial related issues had become a "free for all" for long where even the sitting SC Chief Justice could be the criticized by the powerful.

Justice Sinha has acted in a way that has made people feel it's a strong institution or at least that the CJ is a person of strength. What the seminar speakers where such statements were made failed to read was that no matter how powerful they are in the political and formal world, they are not the informal "janata" which Gonojagoran Mancha was. They are individuals and groups and do not draw their strength from the public space. And no matter how powerful a group or body is, it's never the people. And that is a sobering thought which one hopes will be pondered by the powers that be.

The Tonu incident is no longer a simple case of murder and rape. It has become a cause. No matter what the conclusion of this phase is, the impact has been made. As it has captured public attention, particularly of the young, it will not go away from the public space. The political impact of such an incident remains uncertain for all including Tonu's family but also the ruling class.