The parliamentary body on education ministry formed a parliamentary sub-committee last year to probe the law enforcement agencies' actions against teachers and students during the August 21-22, 2007 student unrest on the DU campus. The parliamentary body, on February 27, 2011, asked the then chief adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed and former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed to appear before it.
The former chief adviser to caretaker government Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, who is now living in the US, expressed his inability to appear before the parliamentary probe body to give testimony on atrocities against Dhaka University teachers and students. Dr. Fakhruddin, in a written statement to the parliamentary body, however, claimed the then interim government tried "its best to defuse the violent situation."
In the statement, he claimed that he was not involved in atrocities against teachers and students of Dhaka University during the tenure of the last caretaker government. Narrating the steps taken by his government he suggested that the parliamentary probe body go through the enquiry report, which, in his words, "was published by the then caretaker government."
Former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed, now also in the US, who also expressed his inability to attend the hearing, has claimed he was not involved in atrocities on teachers and students of Dhaka University centring the much-talked-about campus violence during the last caretaker government's tenure.
Moeen also claimed he had tried his utmost and worked as per instructions from the then council of advisers of the caretaker government to "improve law and order situation." Like Dr. Fakhruddin, General Moeen also suggested that the House probe body take help from the findings of the judicial enquiry committee on the DU violence formed by the then caretaker government.
The sub-committee, however, was dissatisfied with the written replies of Dr. Fakhruddin and General Moeen, and said their statements were "meaningless" as they did not say anything about the repression and inhuman treatment of teachers and students by law enforcement agencies. They have been asked to appear before it on June 5.
This is, albeit unfortunately, not for the first time that such inhuman treatment was meted out to teachers and students. However, this is the first time a parliamentary body has summoned the chief executive of an erstwhile government and the former chief of staff of the armed forces. Both of them, incidentally, had to take upon themselves the monumental task of steering the nation away from an impending catastrophe.
Dr. Fakhruddin had to head a government, not a fully constitutional one per se, guided more by the "doctrine of necessity." It will always remain a debatable issue whether the declaration of emergency on January 11, 2007 was a necessity. However, given the fact that country was heading from the rubble of the BNP-Jamaat rule towards the ruins by the Iajuddin-led CTG, any form of deviation from this path was a welcome respite. The massive popularity that the Fakhruddin-led CTG enjoyed in the initial months of its tenure testified to the justification for 1/11.
Over the next two years, the actions and inaction of the government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed would give rise to speculation about the presence of seemingly multiple governments within the government. The unfortunate incident of August 21-22 was apparently the outcome of the existence of such multiple governments.
The appointment of Dr. Fakharudddin Ahmed as the chief adviser was laudable. I wrote a number of pieces in The Daily Star singling him out as the chief asset to the government. In fact, I could not find anyone better than Dr. Fakhruddin to lead the CTG, both in quality and objectivity. However, many actions of the government, especially of the so-called joint forces, embarrassed such a decent person.
On the same token, unlike other generals who lectured the nation one time or the other, General Moeen's smiling face and soft delivery did not show that he was lecturing an ignorant nation or that he was an army general teaching the "bloody civilians" lessons.
Shrugging off all the apprehensions, the general election was at last held with unprecedented 85% turnout of the eligible voters in a free and fair environment. The landmark election has not only given the country a popular and representative government, but has also greatly elevated the dignity of the nation in the international arena.
In fact, had there been no General Moeen, the election slated for January 22 would have been held, and none of the honourable members of the parliamentary probe committee who have summoned these two leaders today would be there to exercise their absolute authority.
General Moeen who, at the warranted moment, rose above personal gratitude to the person who appointed him to his position that gave him the power to change the course of the nation, which was otherwise heading towards an inevitable catastrophe, must be given due commendation. During those turbulent days, his ability to maintain total discipline, with some exceptions such as the August 21-22 incident, in the rank and file of his men reflected his strong leadership, failing which the nation could have plunged into turmoil.
He did not follow the footsteps of two of his predecessors by usurping state power. Had he wanted to follow that route, it was very clear in the aftermath of the August 21-22 incident itself that there was no dearth of University professors who would be queuing to ride his bandwagon. In a random and on-line survey conducted by DS among its readers around 60% of the respondents believe that the summoning is intended to harass them. It will only benefit the nation if they are left alone.

The writer is Convener, Canadian Committee for Human Rights and Democracy in Bangladesh.