Are we living in a police state?

The accompanying photographs with the article showing an old man being hit in the face by a senior policeman and then kicked while on the ground by three policemen are a picture of which Bangladesh should not be proud.

I send my profoundest wishes that they all make a full recovery.

The people who are relentlessly working to provide us daily news of home & aboard have been severely attacked & punished for no reason by none other than the police. That is something very hard to imagine! Journalists are regarded as the third pillar of society all over the world & the position they hold is no less important than that of the police. But it is unfortunate indeed that in our country over & over again they have been attacked .

Last Sunday it was police who attacked & injured around 20 journalists of the print & electronic media in front of the international media like ESPN & Star Sports.

So far our country has received applause from the international community for wonderful hospitality & warm behaviour. But this incident has definitely tarnished our previous good image a lot. After the ugly incident, police issued a press note which was an aberration of truth. We have seen on private TV channels what they did with the journalists & in no way police could deny their misdeeds.

What is required now is unconditional apology from police to the journalists & exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime. If the government fails to ensure these, then this sort of incidents will happen again & again.

Nazmus Saquib, Notre Dame College, Dhaka

After reading the newspapers 'Prothom-alo', 'Ittefaq', 'Jugantor','Jonokontha','Amardesh','Inqilab' etc we were greatly shocked.

We condemn the police action which was barbaric, to say the least.

Mahmudul Hasan Kamal, DUET ,Gazipur

The press should stop covering the matches of Bangladesh cricket team. Not only the police, in my view BCB is also guilty of neglecting the journalists. There is also a question why BCB officials were sitting in the stadium while the policemen attacked the journalists.

I salute the decision of the press to stop covering the cricket match between Bangladesh and Australia.

Mubashar Hasan, UK

I have learnt this from my text Book (H.S.C. English 1st)

"In rural Appalachia when two men who are good friends meet, they hit each other on the shoulder. The happier they are to see each other, the harder they hit."

Yes, I am talking about the joke going on in our country that "police are friends of general people". Yes, they are very intimate friend of ours. And here they are following the etiquette of rural Appalachia. As they are very close to us, they are expressing it by beating and killing the general people and the reporters. As day by day they are becoming closer friends to us, day by day they are becoming more violent to express their supreme friendship.

But at this moment the people of this country think that police is the number one contributor to lawlessness. Now we don't feel safe because of police, as they indiscriminately arrest innocent people for money, as they protect criminals, as they protect dishonest leaders, as they extort money from vehicles, as they protect smugglers. So we see that they are doing nothing for us but harassing us in many ways.

At the moment it will be better for general people if our government abolishes police. Because if they are abolished then we will feel safe, then we will be able to go out, then we will be able to drive on roads, then none will come to us to extort money, then none will kill general people (Example, Kansat), then none will beat the reporters.

So if our government wants to make us secure and wants to make Bangladesh happy, it has do something about the police.

Tanvir Hussain, Northern College, Dhaka

As a citizen of Bangladesh, I am so shocked at the barbaric action of police that no words are adequate enough to convey my bitter feelings. Is this the outcome of our expenditures for this national institution called 'Police'. I demand the immediate dismissal of all the police members involved in the heinous attack on photo journalists. These people are mentally sick to the highest order and do not have the right to serve the country as members of the police force. They shattered our image globally. The positive image that our cricketers earned through their hard work is gone. This news has spread all over the world including Australia. Mere dismissal is not enough for these notorious members of police force. They should be given exemplary punishment. Have you seen the facial expression of that Akbar while he was beating an old man with all his might? I think even the most notorious criminal on earth would not have done it. He does not have the minimum human values. How can these kind of people be members of our police force?

Finally, I demand full restructuring of the police department, so that it can serve the free citizens of a sovereign country. Steps must be taken now. We cannot afford to have this kind of police anymore.

Md. Fazlul Kader, Agargaon, Dhaka

I am really disappointed to see that the journalist society did not protest the light steps taken by the home ministry against the culprits responsible for the Chittagong incident. The state minister for home affairs told us that the government had formed a one-man enquiry committee with the DIG (HQ) to probe the matter. This is the old and same tactic of government to calm down agitation. You cannot expect a fair probe when the crime has been perpetrated by police. It never happened in Bangladesh in the past.

Moreover, I am astonished to see that the accused sergeant has been suspended and the main culprit of the incident, DC (Port), has only been closed to HQ, not suspended. How do you expect a probe to be fair?

Nihan Amin, Natun Paltan, Azimpur, Dhaka

They killed people at Kansat and looted money. They severely beat up women in Dhaka during hartal. They patronise terrorists & smugglers. And they are barbaric to the journalists & innocent people. I don't understand how they could beat Jahirul Haq, the elderly photojournalist. They brought back the memories of '71 at Kansat.

In any civilised country police are helpful to the people. But here this is totally a daydream. Everyone is reluctant to go to a police station because of the fear of harassment.

Solaiman Palash, East Jurain, Dhaka

In our country only the law enforcing agencies have the right to do anything they like. In very few cases are they punished. And the punishment is too insignificant to mention. This is why they are repeating such misdeeds everywhere. But when they attack the journalists in the presence of their high-ups, it is certainly an unpardonable excess.

Since it was an international Test match, it will damage the image of the whole nation. So the people responsible for it must not go unpunished.

Habibullah Mizan, International Relations, University of Dhaka

Alphabetically, each letter of the word 'police' is significant, because all the characteristics of a perfect human are implied in that. Basically, police is to keep public order , prevent and handle various crimes . But according to real perspective in Bangladesh, is there any relevance between the substantial meaning of police and the activities of our policemen? Here the one noteworthy thing is that police are responsible for abuse of power, thanks to their being used politically by successive governments. Recently, by killing the poor farmers at Kansat and beating the photojournalists at Chittagong, our policemen have exposed their real face. Now it is a matter of concern for the conscious people. A question has arisen, are the police friends of us or enemies? I think such condition could be the result of some basic faults: lack of perfect and effectual training system or the feebleness of administration .

I cannot imagine why the government is so much unconcerned even after noticing this sort of brutality on the part of police. From my point of view, I can say that our police department has to be more accountable to the authorities to increase the level of their efficiency. The government has to ensure a better training system to get skilled policemen. The police department must obey and work according to the dictates of an independent and active administration.

Otherwise, the brutality and incivility of police will cause much harm to the nation.

Roney, BUBT, Mirpur