Chasing alleged drug users with a revolver is not governance. It is vigilantism, and a brazen display of impunity by a ruling party politician who appears to believe he is above the law.
Flanked by armed security personnel, one of whom openly carried a large, sophisticated firearm that civilians are prohibited from holding, he staged a piece of political theatre in the capital on Saturday. The man is Ishraque Hossain, a lawmaker and state minister in the government led by Tarique Rahman. He brandished a firearm to chase down citizens, then posted the footage on his verified Meta page for maximum clout.
That is not public service, rather a show of blatant lawlessness.
We live under a constitution, codified laws and established law-enforcement agencies. When an elected lawmaker openly flouts that, he assaults the rule of law itself. If the weapon was his own, he also appears to have breached the conditions of his firearm licence. [We could not verify whether the gun was licensed to him. He did not declare owning a firearm in the affidavit he submitted to the Election Commission.]
The most troubling element is the arrogance behind it. He acted as though the law, the administration and the police were irrelevant, because he operates under political insulation. He staged the spectacle to look tough, confident that his party leadership, the government or the prime minister would look the other way. When those who make the laws behave as though the laws do not apply to them, the public receives a corrosive message. If impunity is tolerated at the top, institutional accountability has already begun to collapse.
His second wrongdoing is the attempt to cover up the first. He claims he acted in self-defence, but the evidence contradicts him. The incident appears to have been deliberate and planned. He uploaded the video, declaring that he had to act because law enforcers had failed. A man acting in self-defence does not publish a promotional clip, and one who truly feared for his safety would not cite police failures as his justification.
The timing makes it worse. He chose the day Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was making surprise visits across the city, which had drawn public attention and goodwill. Ishraque’s show of aggressive vigilantism undercut that gesture.
As an MP and a state minister, he has duties to perform, and he seems to have forgotten the limits of his office.
By any reasonable reading, he has committed an offence and should face the due process of law, like any other citizen.
The prime minister should not allow a party colleague to behave this way. So far, there is no sign that he is willing to act. Silence or leniency in the face of such a dangerous pattern will not protect him. It will drag him down, and the BNP will pay the political price.
M Abul Kalam Azad is acting editor of Daily TIMES of Bangladesh.
