Protection of the rights of the minority groups during general election

Sumayyah Sarwat writes for DOT : 
Communal violence is often used as a political weapon in Bangladesh. Especially, poll time violence against minor religious and ethnic groups is a common scenario during every general and local election. Religious minorities have a long history of being inhumanly targeted by the political parties and their political vengeance. Till now the most horrifying poll time communal attacks were seen during the 2014 general election. Though in most of the previous cases(as were reported after investigation), it was found that religion based political party like Jamaat was involved in those attacks,through some incidents like therecent violent attack on a Hindu family in Noakhali, where five houses were set on fire,now it isquite apparent that they are not safe even from the attacks of the ruling party. In our country we have always seen unity and harmony among peoples from different background irrespective of their class, community, religion, number and ethnicity. Thus incidents like this make us really embarrassed and ashamed. These make us think twice whether we are actually living in a secular, socialist and democratic country like our constitution claims. In this regard there are some questions that need to be answered. Why communal attacks on minorities are common during poll times? Why crime like this was in such a situation where it could not be controlled in all these years? Why precautionary measures are not usually taken beforehand despite the possibilities of the attacks are subject to easy assumptions? And whether the religious and ethnic minorities are always at the risk of human rights violation due to our ill political culture or due to the stakeholders’ failure to provide minimum protection or a combination of the both? These matters need long discussion and deep analysis to be resolved. But some steps must be taken immediately to prevent all possible cases of violence against these vulnerable sections of our society before the coming election. Firstly, necessary precautions must be taken for the prevention of pre-planned spreading of false propaganda and communal enmity. Secondly, all risky constituencies and possible victims must be identified and assured. Finally, all security measures must be taken including the appointment of ample security forces for their protection and their safety during the application of their voting rights. One of the main reasons behind this never stopping evil practice of poll time communal violence is that the offenders always mange to find ways to escape from the grasp of the laws and punishment. Therefore system must be developed in order to ensure proper law enforcement, investigation and punishment of the real perpetrators.
The writer is Research Assistant, BILIA