VOT Desk :
Noting that the role of the police in the July-August mass uprising will remain questionable, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md. Sajjat Ali said, “I still feel ashamed to introduce myself as a police officer when I go to various events.”
He made these remarks as a special guest at the annual general meeting of the Bangladesh Retired Police Officers Welfare Association at Rajarbagh Police Lines in the capital on Saturday (December 28) afternoon.
The DMP Commissioner said, “After 53 years of independence, the people of this country did not want to see such a police. The deaths of thousands of students and people in the movement have written a sad story. We are the police of an independent country. Why are people so angry with the police? The events of July-August have oppressed us a lot socially.
Till now, we feel ashamed to introduce ourselves as police officers when we go to various events at different levels of society. We have to come out of this trauma.
There is only one way to come out – people have to serve us. Only through service will we be able to restore the lost image or glory of the police, InshaAllah.”
He said, “If the police officers who were in charge at that time had taken the right decision even 72 hours before August 5, many lives would have been saved. Besides, the lives of police members would have been saved as well.
What role did those who were in the leadership of the police in the last 15 years play? What actions did they take that made the people of this country so upset with the police? The manifestation of which is that 44 policemen had to give their lives, hundreds of colleagues were injured in various ways. Police stations, outposts, weapons were looted.”
The DMP Commissioner further said, “I leave it to you to judge whether those who were in the leadership of the police took the right decision or were able to take it.
There are many associations in Bangladesh. We have two—one for serving officers, the other for retired officers. There will be competition and differences in all associations. I hope that we can move forward unitedly by reducing the differences between the serving and retired associations. The retired police officers’ association could not play such a role in the anti-discrimination movement. May this organization play a stronger role in various issues.”
