THINK LEGAL BANGLADESH

Do We Really Believe in the Notion of Equality before the Law?

Recently a Dhaka trial court sentenced eight activists to death and 13 others to life
sentences in connection to the killing of Bishwajit Das last year.

Unsurprisingly, this turned out to be sensational news since the general members of the
public have eagerly awaited knowledge about the verdict. The eight accused individuals are
to walk the gallows for killing an individual and yet, apparently, the general members of the
public perceive that due process has not been interfered with by the government and that
justice has been done.

It is to be noted that this case was tried in the speedy trial tribunal and was completed
within a period of just over a year since the incident had occurred. The defence lawyers
rejected the verdict, as per their right. There was no fuss regarding impartiality, procedural
fairness or sternness of the punishment from any faction of the people nor was there any
concern about human rights being violated, that any of the accused to be hanged may be
entitled to. Newspapers even reported that people demanded the immediate execution of
the verdict. It would be hard to find someone who would not find death to be the fairest
punishment for such a heinous act.

Anyone willing to advocate on abolishing the death penalty would find it very difficult to
gain any support at all from the ordinary citizens of our country, as far as Bishwajit’s
murder is concerned. It comes as a great shock to consider, in hindsight, the discussions
that took place regarding the execution of the infamous Quader Molla for his horrifying acts
during the Liberation War. The execution of the death sentence suddenly turned to be of
great concern, not only for human rights activists but also for general members of the
public.

Discussions regarding the justifiability of the death penalty were put forward by a group of
professionals, including lawyers and journalists. Surprisingly, a large number of people
even echoed the request of the international human rights organisations for abolishing
capital punishment, at least in case of Quader Molla. The logical question arises: “Do we, the
ordinary citizens, really even want to be treated equally by law, let alone the notion to be
put to practice?”

The criminal Justice system plays a crucial role in maintaining law and order and upholding
the same. Penal measures are present in all jurisdictions across the globe although they
vary to some extent from country-to-country due to differences in the legal traditions,
economic realities and social structures. The demand for abolishing capital punishment on
humanitarian grounds should not be rejected; rather, such a higher standard of rights is
A.A. Khan, “Do We Really Believe in the Notion of Equality before the Law?” Think Legal Bangladesh, 12
February, 2014 (Available online at: http://thinklegalbangladesh.com/home/index.php); reprinted from A.A.
Khan, “Do We Really Believe in the Notion of Equality before the Law?” Dhaka Tribune, 16 January, 2014
(Available online at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2014/jan/16/do-we-really-believe-
notion-equality-law)
 THINK LEGAL BANGLADESH

something to aspire to for every developing nation. These differences of opinion regarding
the penal measures do not interfere with the objective of establishing the rule of law.

Equality before the law is fundamental to the notion of rule of law, and before we can fight
for the enforcement of our right to be treated equally, we must firmly believe in our right to
be treated equally before the law. Our constitution protects this right clearly. An individual
has every right to advocate his conviction, but advocacy for different treatment by the
system based upon the political, social, economic, religious or ethnic identity should in no
way be supported. Such dubious mentality will only make us more susceptible to unequal
and unfair treatment by the government.

Let us not be divided on issues of politics in such a manner that we give up our rights to
pleasing those who have created a false impression of being superior. Culprits should be
punished in the same manner for the same misdeed, irrespective of their political, social,
economic, religious or ethnic identities.

It would be unwise to assume that these propositions stated above are based on an
autocratic mindset that forbids one to question the fairness or legitimacy of any act of the
government or the judiciary. One does have the right to question the non-enforcement of
rules and non-compliance with procedural fairness, but that should not pave the way for
inconsistent stipulations, especially by those who are perceived as a source of insight into
delicate matters by the general mass. A rule of law will never be established unless we all
start believing in the fundamental notions that it is based upon. Let us develop a mentality
for resenting every instance that violates the notion of equality before the law and it will
eventually result in the system treating us all equally.

Ashiqul A. Khan
Associate
Legacy Legal Corporate
ashiqul.khan@legacylegalcorporate.com

A.A. Khan, “Do We Really Believe in the Notion of Equality before the Law?” Think Legal Bangladesh, 12
February, 2014 (Available online at: http://thinklegalbangladesh.com/home/index.php); reprinted from A.A.
Khan, “Do We Really Believe in the Notion of Equality before the Law?” Dhaka Tribune, 16 January, 2014
(Available online at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2014/jan/16/do-we-really-believe-
notion-equality-law)