Police will be criticised if they take action against any protestor, says home advisor
Published : 05 Feb 2025, 05:02 PM
Home Advisor Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has acknowledged the public suffering caused by the indiscriminate protest programmes that have recently blocked roads, saying that people will take measures against protesters when “they lose their patience”.
He added that the law enforcers have drawn flak when they tried to take action against the protestors.
The advisor made the remarks while speaking to the media after visiting the River Police Headquarters in Hatirjheel on Wednesday. When asked, he said the government asked Interpol to issue a red notice to extradite the suspects in cases at the International Crimes Tribunal, including Sheikh Hasina.
Two police stations were attacked in Uttara on Tuesday. The Kashimpur Prison was also attacked. However, the law enforcement agencies could do little to prevent the attacks.
Asked why, Jahangir said: “It’s not that they couldn’t do anything about it. We’re discussing the incident in Uttara. We’ll investigate the incident and those responsible will face legal action.”
The authorities took the same measures during the prison attack, the advisor said.
Police officers at the field level say they are attacked when they try to nab any suspect and that several incidents like the Uttara Police Station attack have taken place.
Asked what the home ministry had instructed, the home advisor said: “The IG [Inspector general of police] gave a clear directive regarding the matter. There’s no lack of clarity. You people don’t want police to nurture the same behaviour they had in the last 15 years. The way you [the media] are asking questions now, you could never ask before. You’re asking us questions and we’re answering them. You’re writing what we say. The IG is also bringing changes to the training of police personnel so they nurture more humanitarian qualities. However, it’ll require time. This can’t be done overnight. Also, some stray incidents like the one at Uttara Police Station may happen. All you need to see is whether the government takes action or not in those cases.”
Asked about the different protests that are blocking roads and whether they were attempts to destabilise the government, Jahangir said: “In this case, I seek your [the media’s] assistance the most. You spoke the truth in the beginning. Protestors are blocking the roads sometimes without sufficient reason. If you write about these issues, at one point people will lose their patience.”
"People are already running low on tolerance. See how the protestors besieged the Grameenphone Head Office until midnight.”
"We can have a threshold for tolerance, but they’re [protestors] just ruining it. Once the public loses its tolerance, they will take measures against the protestors. At the same time, if police take action, then they’ll be criticised. You’ll say that the police went back to their old tactics.”
The advisor said that any protestor could take their issue to the respective higher authorities instead of blocking the roads. For example, students could use the school or college grounds to stage their protests.
PROCESS FOR RED NOTICE HAS BEGUN
As many as 105 suspects are named in cases at the International Crimes Tribunal over the July uprising. Around 36 of them have been arrested.
The tribunal has blamed the home ministry for its lack of action.
The home advisor said: “We’ve arrested those who had arrest warrants issued against them. And the main person you’re talking about [Sheikh Hasina] - you know she is not in Bangladesh. We’re trying to extradite those not in the country as we have an extradition treaty with our neighbouring country.”
IGP Baharul Alam said: “We already urged Interpol to issue a red notice against the suspects of the International Crimes Tribunal. They’re processing it and we believe it’ll be issued soon. Once the red notice is issued, police in host countries will be morally responsible for arresting the suspects.”