Muhammad Nurul Huda

Police reform must enable the force to function freely, fairly, justly, and independently.

The police reform debate seems to be attracting a wider and more serious audience.

It is time for discerning citizens to ponder over the factors and circumstances that have brought us to this precarious condition.

Why are the deficits in democratic policing so glaring?

There is no denying that for a long time, the police have been used as a tool of repression in the subcontinent

The catch-all definition of national security must not be used as a cloak to hide abuses.

For police reform to be substantive, the first order of business should be the enactment of a new Police Act

The onus of ensuring malpractice-free management of the police force squarely rests with the police hierarchy.

Bangabandhu, through an intense process of national consciousness-building, equipped a people to defend their sovereignty.

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.

Historically speaking, repression was the dominant feature of colonial policing, at least between 1930 and the Partition in 1947, and one cannot be certain if the attitude of the ruling establishments in the subcontinent has significantly changed insofar as the use of police powers is concerned.

More often than not, the word “police” in our parlance gets adverse attention—and for understandable reasons.

While commenting on the unfortunate and shameful incidents triggered by the alleged desecration of Islamic scriptures in Cumilla,

Recently, there have been news reports highlighting serious irregularities in the recruitment of constables in the district of Narayanganj.