Safe haven for wanted MP

He has not joined any of the 134 sittings of parliament in the last one and a half years. This says all about his failure to do parliamentary business as a lawmaker.

Yet, like other MPs, tax payers' money has been spent on his remuneration and other benefits. An MP gets more than Tk 1 lakh a month in remuneration and allowances. 

Regardless of his failure to perform as a lawmaker, nobody bothered about it until his latest attempt to retain his MP status.

Fugitive in the eyes of law and wanted by the police in a murder case, Amanur Rahman Rana, Awami League MP from Tangail-3 constituency, entered the parliament building on Monday and signed an attendance book kept at the House lobby and left the area. And he had no difficulty in doing so.

Just a signature in the register book will allow him to dodge parliamentary business for one more year, as he will not need to show up in parliament for the next 90 consecutive sittings.

According to a constitutional provision, a lawmaker will lose his membership in parliament if he remains absent from the House for 90 consecutive sittings.   

This time Rana turned up at the parliament's lobby on Monday after remaining absent from 67 consecutive sittings of parliament.

He knew that his parliament membership would be at risk in the current session, which will continue till July 28 with more than 20 sittings. And he managed to eliminate the risk through his adventurous trip to parliament, where stringent security measures were put in place. 

Rana did the same last year. He entered the parliament lobby on July 5 and signed the attendance book after remaining absent for 65 consecutive sittings. 

This is all because of our parliamentary system in which an MP does not need to work for retaining his MP status; he can easily save his membership only by signing the attendance book.

In the past, opposition MPs, who boycotted the parliamentary business at will, took the opportunity to save their membership.

Now, Rana, wanted by police in a murder case, is taking the benefit of the same system.

Interestingly, on both occasions -- on Monday and on July 5 last year -- he signed the attendance book and left the parliament building unnoticed. The parliament whips and security chiefs expressed their ignorance of it on both occasions.

One whip last year said it was not Jatiya Sangsad's duty to help police arrest Rana. “But, if the police had informed parliament of the matter earlier, the Speaker could have made a decision.”

Police needs the Speaker's permission to arrest an MP at the parliament building precinct. 

Rana has been absconding for the last 19 months following the murder of freedom fighter and Tangail AL leader Faruk Ahmed on January 18, 2013. Faruk was Rana's political rival.

Rana and his three younger brothers went into hiding after they found out that police had evidence of their complicity in the killing.

Police pressed charges against the four in February this year.

In early April, a Tangail court accepted the charge sheet and issued arrest warrant for Rana and his brothers.

But police could not arrest any of them.

On May 16, the court ordered confiscation of moveable assets of Rana and his three brothers as well as other accused in the case.

They were again summoned to appear before the court by June 16. But Rana ignored it.

On June 16, the court ordered the authorities concerned to publish advertisements in newspapers asking MP Rana and others to appear before it. 

In its order, the court mentioned that the fugitive accused would be tried in absentia if they don't appear before it even after the publication of the advertisement.   

Earlier on July 14 last year, the High Court also directed Rana and one of his brothers to surrender before a Tangail court in two weeks in connection with the murder case.

An HC bench passed the order after hearing a petition by Rana and his brother, who sought anticipatory bail.

But the duo did not surrender before the court.

All these show Rana's defiance of the legal system. This raised a crucial question: if a lawmaker refuses to abide by the law why people should obey the law? 

Rana has not been seen in public in his constituency for the last 19 months. Doesn't Rana need to think about the people of his constituency? He didn't need people's vote to get elected as an MP. He was elected uncontested in the January 5 parliamentary election in 2014.

He, however, has been keeping regular communication with his men in the constituency over the phone. His men in the party are still loyal to him and meet him regularly in the capital, according to Rana's close aides in Tangail.

But police cannot find him.

In the latest special drive by the police, around 15,000 people were picked up. Of them, many were warranted accused.

But Rana and his brothers were successful in eluding the police dragnet. This has raised a question whether Rana is enjoying blessings from any influential quarter in the government or in the ruling party.

The Rana case has once again exposed the fragile state of the rule of law in the country. The prevailing situation has created a safe haven for Rana and many others. This is also a manifestation of the culture of impunity.

Rashidul Hasan in Dhaka and Mirza Shakil from Tangail contributed to this analysis