Law and Order
Situation in Bangladesh
Law and order situation of a country is dependent not only on a
stronger police force but also on a general improvement in the economy and an
increase in civic responsibility. This is why it’s an easy promise to make but
one of the hardest to implement. People are not born criminals but turn to
crime when there are no alternative employment sources or the discrepancy
between the rich and the poor is too large to break.
This government has now
completed four years of its five-year term. RASSU, the survey unit of Democracy
watch, undertook a nationwide survey in an attempt to estimate the level of
improvement or deterioration in the law and order situation over the last four
years. The survey was carried out from 26 May 2000 to 6 June 2000.
The example was selected by using a multistage
method. In the beginning we chose the marginal constituencies, which were won
by less than 3000 votes in the 1996 election. This reduced the number of
constituencies from a total of 300 to 52. The next stage was to randomly sample
these 52. Three constituencies were also included that were not marginal but
adjudged to be the same characteristics of Dhaka and Chittagong. A list of the
constituencies is given below:
The districts are:
Panchgar-2
Khulna-3
Narayangang-2
Dianjpur-3
Satkhita-4
Sunamganj-4
Nilfamari-3
Patuakhali-2
Sylhet-1
Lalmonirhat-3
Bhola-1
Comilla-6
Natore-3
Tangail-6
Chandpur-5
Sirajganj-7
Dhaka-6
Chittagong-2
Pabna-2
Dhaka-7
Chittagong-10
Chuadanga-2
Dhaka-11
Awami League got 11 seats, BNP 9 seats, Jatiya party 2 seats & Jamat Islami
1 seat among 23 constituencies in 1996 general election.
All of these constituencies were included in 1998 survey conducted by Democracy
watch, only Chandpur 5 was included instead of Laxmipur 2. Having selected the
constituencies we then selected a total of 125 polling centres. Between 5 and 7
centres were chosen from each area. We then interviewed on average one
household in seven from each polling centre. In total 3,109 people were
interviewed.
The reporter asked the
populace - in the key areas of crime - if they thought that crime had increased
during the present government’s term. As we suspected, an increase in crime is
reported nationwide but it is much more pronounced in the urban areas.
If we think that crime has increased or decreased in our area.
|
Comments
|
Total
%
|
Urban
%
|
Rural
%
|
|
Increased
|
41
|
50
|
33
|
|
Decreased
|
32
|
30
|
37
|
|
Same as
Before
|
14
|
15
|
13
|
Very significantly almost half of the city-dwellers believe that crime has
increased in the last four years. In the country as a whole more people believe
that crime has increased rather than decreased.
When we break down the crime into separate components it reveals the areas in
which crime is increasing.
As it can be seen from the chart that crime has
increased in all areas except kidnapping and acid-throwing. The biggest
difference between increased and decreased areas of crime is the crime of
murder where 48 per cent of the people think it has increased during this
government’s tenure.
Figures on perceived crime are still questionable as
it is based on people’s opinions. To find out the true picture we asked the
sample whether they or any of their relatives had ever been victim to crime
over the last 4 years.
My relative experienced a major crime in the last four years?
|
Crime
|
Total
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
|
Extortion
|
12
|
14
|
8
|
|
Hijacking
|
21
|
30
|
17
|
|
Murder
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
|
None
|
55
|
47
|
63
|
The table shows that almost 1/3 of the city dwellers knows of someone who
has been hijacked. Even in the rural areas the rate of hijacking is close to
1/5th. The murder figure of 3 per cent is also high for such a
serious crime but this is probably due to the sensationalism surrounding a
murder leading to many hearing of the crime although not really affected by it.
With the increase in crime it was very obvious to ask the sample what they
thought about the cause of the increase and who they thought to be the
perpetrators. In the table below it reveals that mastans are seen as the main
source of crime throughout the country. Ruling party activists are also blamed
by nearly a quarter of the sample.
The
culprits are:
|
Culprits
|
Total
(%)
|
Urban
(%)
|
Rural
(%)
|
|
Mastans
|
58
|
58
|
58
|
|
Students
|
8
|
11
|
4
|
|
Govt.
activists
|
26
|
20
|
33
|
|
Opposition
activists
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
|
Police
|
12
|
13
|
10
|
It should be noted that mastans are deemed to be responsible for
crime at the same rate in the cities as well as in the country. Another
disturbing figure is the blame apportioned to the ruling party. 26 per cent of
the sample blamed the government activists to be responsible whereas only 2 per
cent blamed the opposition party for crimes. This is particularly bad for a
government that claims to be reducing crime but actually is blamed for much of
the crime by a quarter of the population.
Has this increase in
crime made people more wary before venturing out? We asked the sample if they
were scared to go out.
|
Response
|
All
(%)
|
Male
(%)
|
Female
(%)
|
Urban
(%)
|
Rural
(%)
|
|
Yes
|
48
|
44
|
53
|
60
|
38
|
|
No
|
50
|
55
|
45
|
39
|
60
|
Almost half of the population is afraid to go out with women who are
understandably more afraid than men. Rural people still feel safer than urban
people but even then over 1/3rd feels afraid to go out.
Crime is perceived to be increasing in the rural and urban areas alike. Serious
crimes like hijacking and murder are significantly higher than they were four
years ago. Many city dwellers have had firsthand experience of hijacking or
know a relative who has been hijacked. This has led to an increased fear of
going out in the cities. Although in general the urban areas have had a higher
increase in crime than the rural areas, they too are not better off. There has
been an increase of crime noticed by 1/3rd of the sample and a
similar number are now afraid to go out.
The causes of crime remain firmly fixed with the mastans. They are blamed for
more than half of the crimes committed. Government activists are blamed by a
quarter of the people. For a government which came to power on a mandate of
reducing crime and installing order this is very bad news. They have been
criticized not only by the majority for the increasing crime levels but also
their own party is seen as one of the main causes of it.
Crime levels are on the increase in all categories from extortion to murder.
This problem is nationwide. It needs to be dealt with in other ways than just
using a heavy-handed police force or stiffer punishments. We need to address
the economic problems so that civilian can turn to employment rather than crime
for a living. We need to educate the people so that they are more responsible
to their society. Above all we should also teach the people that ultimately
crime does not pay. The personal gains of a few are far outweighed by the
disintegration of the moral fabric of society.
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