For police reform to be substantive, the first order of business should be the enactment of a new Police Act
The question is one of making the bureaucracy more responsible and responsive.
It is imperative to bring the police under a system of accountability that earns public confidence.
On June 3, 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, announced his plan for the partition of the subcontinent—in particular that of Punjab and Bengal.
Of late, media reports that indicate that the infamous phenomenon of extrajudicial killings has been resorted to more by the mainstream police outfit than the elite unit of the law-enforcing apparatus should bring no comfort, and indeed should be viewed with concern.
The unfortunate fact of our times is that all reports on Bangladesh’s socio-economic progression almost invariably point to the lack of good governance as a significant deficit in our developmental strides.
The piece “No ‘crossfire’ deaths since US sanctions” published in this newspaper on January 11 will definitely engage all thinking minds, especially those entrusted with the maintenance of law and public order.
In recent times, there have been many discussions, discourses and deliberations on “muktijuddher chetona,” wherein passionate and eloquent speakers have emphasised the imperative of holding aloft the spirit of our great Liberation War.
The conviction of three police officers working in one of the police stations of Dhaka metropolitan area for a custodial death that occurred years ago should be a shining example in an otherwise murky environment.
Following the death of Major Sinha in circumstances indicative of collusive criminal behaviour of some apparently errant police personnel along with other delinquencies of lawmen elsewhere in the country, well-meaning citizens have expressed their apprehensions about control and accountability of our police or the lack of it.
Reports in the print and electronic media indicate that the image of police in public eyes has been worryingly tainted following the death of Major Sinha under circumstances pointing to the criminal collusive actions of some errant policemen, in addition to other serious infractions of policemen elsewhere in the country.
While remembering the tragic incident of August 15 1975, we have to agree with the undeniable fact of history that Bangabandhu became a symbol in his own lifetime.
The untimely death of former Major Sinha Rashed Khan in hither to inadequately explained circumstances saddens the heart.
Police performance in Bangladesh in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has surely been laudable as evidenced in public reactions and media reports.
The Awami League celebrates its 71st birth anniversary on June 23, 2020. Looking back, any ardent student of history would come face to face with the fact that the divisions that were to characterise the differing interests of the educated Muslims in the then East Bengal, began to manifest themselves in the penultimate years of British rule in India.
Police brutality is no strange phenomenon to the American criminal law enforcement scenario. However, the happenings since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month have demonstrated unusually deep anger and anguish, and protests continue.
On June 7, 1966, in the then East Pakistan, a special protest day was observed in support of the Six Point Movement. The government of General Ayub Khan moved to suppress it with force. Huge demonstrations were fired upon by police claiming a number of lives. Large scale arrests followed. It is time once again to gratefully recall those intrepid Bangali nationalists whose sacrifices expedited our defiant march to full independence a few years later.
It is now an admitted fact that in the treasury of the world’s great speeches, the historic March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman occupies a special place of honour and prominence.
