A policeman's humane behaviour

A bus had overturned in Ramu upazilla on the Cox's Bazaar-Chittagong highway on December 13 that killed four people and injuring another three. This incident would have been just another accident had it not been for the heroic efforts of Constable Sher Ali of Chittagong Detective Branch who rushed to the scene of the incident. Having found a child whose head was stuck in the overhead luggage space in the bus, he pried the child lose and brought her out. The rescued child uttered the words "father" and a compassionate policeman was exposed. Overcome with emotion, he hugged the injured girl. The image of the constable with tears in his eyes as he carried the child, captured by a photographer, has gone viral on social media prompting thousands of likes and comments from viewers.

We are so used to a whole different image of law enforcers that what Sher Ali did took most of us aback. His actions speak of a different type of policeman than the ones we encounter on a daily basis. Indeed, this is precisely the sort of behaviour that ordinary people expect from the police in any situation, -- humane and kind. However, our general perception about the law enforcers is one of intimidation, which has alienated people to the point of general wariness of the police in most matters, to be kept as far away as possible. Constable Sher Ali breaks out of that stereotype and his actions are an example of what should be the normal disposition and deportment of a policeman be – someone to be trusted rather than feared.