How many things do police want, questions BNP leader Mahbub

Senior BNP leader Mahbubur Rahman has termed the demand by the police chief for a separate division for the force in the home ministry as an ‘exposure of an authoritarian mentality.’

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 29 Jan 2016, 12:22 PM
Updated : 29 Jan 2016, 01:45 PM

Speaking at a discussion in Dhaka on Friday, he said, “Today I see the police want to stay outside the home ministry. They want a police division, a bank. How many things do they want?”
 
At a programme at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday, the first day of the police week, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque demanded a separate division under the home ministry for the force.
 
He argued that the police could do the things faster and be free from bureaucratic tangles if they got the division.
 
Rahman, a BNP Standing Committee member, said the police chief’s demand showed an absence of a ‘democratic mentality’ in the police force.
 
“It’s an authoritarian mentality. Police cannot be authoritarian. They are the servants of the people. Their only duty is to resist evil people and protect law-abiding people,” he said.

At the discussion, organised by the Jatiyatabadi Sangskritik Dal to mark the birth anniversary of the BNP’s founder Ziaur Rahman, he expressed his concern over the current law and order situation.

“Today people are in a state of panic. The main responsibility of the police is to maintain law and order. But what are we seeing now?” he asked.

Rahman claimed that corruption had gripped the entire country.

Terming Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a great leader, he said, “Ziaur Rahman is also a great leader. There was no conflict between Bangabandhu and Ziaur Rahman.”

“Ziaur Rahman proclaimed the independence (of the country) in the name of Bangabandhu, who honoured him with the Bir Uttam (Great Valiant Hero) title and made him army deputy chief of staff,” he said.

The BNP leader claimed those who did not wish the country well were trying to put the two leaders in a state of ‘conflict’.