Md. Zillur Rahaman :
Recently the Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has apologized to the victims of past crimes and the families of the July-August uprising. At the same time, he admitted that RAB had secret prisons (Aynaghor). He further said, ‘We express our sorrow and apologize to those who have been abused or tortured by RAB since its creation and to the families of those who have been killed by RAB, including the seven murders in Narayanganj.
The RAB DG expects justice through a fair investigation of these incidents and said, ‘Only through this is it possible to be exonerated. In no other way can we be exonerated.’ Moreover, he assured, ‘As long as I am in charge or my officers, RAB will never commit such crimes – disappearances, murders – in the future under anyone’s orders. If any member is involved in any kind of criminal activity on their own responsibility, we will take strict legal action against them, which we are bringing after August 5.’
A few days before this, the new DMP Commissioner apologized to the people of the capital for the role of the police in the July-August agitation. He said, I apologize to the people of Dhaka for the July-August incident. I further assure you, I will serve the citizens of the capital in the future with my colleagues. In the past days, the police attacked together with the helmet force, that era has come to an end, he said.
Apology by the two responsible positions above is quite new in our country’s culture. .The process of prosecution against those who have committed crimes in these forces is ongoing but in the context of our country, their acceptance of responsibility is definitely a positive development and such instances were not seen during the previous governments. Usually any air, rail, sea accident or any lapse in ethics abroad is seen as taking responsibility or accepting the mistake and resigning and it has become a part of their culture. But it is very rare in our country. No one wants to give up power once they get it, they want to hold on to it. There is no question of accepting responsibility and resigning! Because to hold a public representative or a responsible position in Bangladesh, he has to go through a lot of money, lobby and hold a certain position and that position becomes very desirable and attractive to him. For these reasons, he does not mind criticism or agitation at all and, far from voluntarily resigning, wants to retain power until the end.
There are many instances of resignations abroad after admitting fault or wrongdoing. For example, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted a drinking party with top government officials at his official residence in May 2020 amidst the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. He “sincerely apologised” in a speech to the British Parliament in February 2022 in the face of heavy criticism and demands for his resignation from the opposition. In his speech to the Parliament, he said that the anger of the critics on him and the government is understandable. Because he thinks that the people who make the rules in Downing Street don’t follow them properly and they can’t.
It is also known that 112 passengers died in a train accident in Andhra Pradesh, India in 1956. The then Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri accepted the responsibility for the accident and immediately sent his resignation letter to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was surprised and said – accidents can happen. But why resign? He did not accept the resignation letter. But three months after this incident another train accident took place in Tamil Nadu. This time 144 passengers died. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned again, taking responsibility for the incident out of conscience.
This time Prime Minister Nehru accepted his resignation. In a statement in Parliament then, Nehru said, “Though he has resigned, and we have accepted it, that does not mean that Mr. Shastri has failed in his duty.”
On January 19, 2024, Norway’s Minister of Research and Higher Education resigned after admitting to plagiarizing someone else’s research in a master’s thesis. According to a report by the news agency AFP, she admitted to making a big mistake. She regretted using the writings of different people in the research without mentioning the sources. She said, ‘I made a great mistake and used other research data without crediting the source. I’m sorry.
In March 2023, Greece’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transport resigned over the tragic train accident. He announced his resignation after visiting the accident site. It is known that at least 43 people were died in a terrible collision between two trains in the northern part of Greece and he resigned after taking responsibility for the failure in that incident. Then he said, when such a tragic incident happened, then it is impossible for me to continue working pretending that nothing happened. I take responsibility for this failure and resign as Transport Minister. It is my duty to resign as a mark of respect to the people who died in the train accident. He also expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
Similarly, the foreign minister of the Netherlands resigned in February 2018 for lying. He is known to have lied about attending a meeting with Russian President Putin in 2006 as a representative of Shell. He had to resign bearing the responsibility of the scandal. According to media sources, he repented and announced his resignation before the debate started in the parliament in that country.
No man is above mistakes. Therefore admitting any mistake immediately is a sign of greatness. There is no shame in admitting a mistake, rather it brings glory and honor and greatly boosts self-esteem. Apologize to the appropriate authority to rectify the mistake. It also increases the acceptance of others. People make mistakes along the way, when someone realizes the mistake, he corrects it. But some people dwell on their mistakes. Many people think that admitting mistakes is against personality. Due to this, there will be loss of honor, but this is not the case. It is natural for people to make mistakes. And one of the great virtues is to apologize for mistakes. It is human nature to ask for forgiveness by mistake.
(The writer is a banker and columnist He can be reached [email protected])
