Dhaka, Sept. 11 -- And just like that, the deed was done. With a volley of 'Ayes!'(or rather 'Haas!') ringing around the cavernous main hall of Parliament, the Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, that was once so feared, that became embroiled in all sorts of abuses, of human rights above all, and where deputation from even the Army meant otherwise solid, upright soldiers came back with their characters diminished, was confined to history.

Clearly for defenders of human rights in particular, both at home and abroad, RAB's image in recent years had become irredeemably tied to that of the suppression of rights under the Awami League regime. The most fatal blow may have come when the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right...