THE partisan role of the law enforcement agencies was once again evident on July 19 when the Dhaka Metropolitan Police allowed and gave protection to the rally held by the ruling Awami League and foiled and attacked rallies held by political parties in opposition. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on July 18 announced that it would hold a rally in front of the National Press Club in the morning on July 19, protesting against the killing of protesting students during the ongoing movement for reforms in the quota system in civil service while the Awami League, in apparently a typical response to counter BNP programmes, announced that it would hold a rally in the afternoon on Bangabandhu Avenue. The city police initially banned all political rallies in Dhaka. Several hundred leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, however, gathered in front of the National Press Club and in adjacent areas only to receive a high-handed treatment of the law enforcement agencies that fired tear-gas shells, rubber bullets and sound grenades to disperse the demonstrators and left dozens injured while the police also detained the party鈥檚 senior joint secretary general. At about 2:00pm on the day, the city police changed its decision and said that it would allow only the two major parties 鈥� the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party 鈥� to hold rallies in front of the respective central office of the parties.
The decision later became another example of the partisan role of the law enforcement agencies as they cooperated with and gave full protection to the Awami League rally while they obstructed BNP people to join their rally and, eventually, did not allow the party to hold the rally. When such a partisan treatment is unacceptable and detrimental to democracy, what is shocking is the police highhandedness towards other political parties that held or tried to hold rallies. The police, along with ruling party activists, attacked a procession brought out by Ganatantra Mancha, a combine of six political parties, leaving at least 25 leaders and activists of the parties injured. In a period of crisis such as this, when more than 110 people, mostly students, have been killed, mostly in police firing, it is the responsibility of political parties to stand for the just cause and hold the government accountable. But the partisan role of the law enforcement agencies hinders the political parties to do what they are expected to. The law enforcement agencies have, in fact, followed a partisan course since the very beginning of the student movement as they aided ruling party activists to carry out attacks on the protesters. Meanwhile, chiefs of different law enforcement agencies have continued to refer to protesting students as miscreants and been high-handed to them.
The law enforcement agencies and their personnel, who enjoy perks and benefits from taxpayers鈥� money and who are under the pledge to act without bias, must, therefore, make a course correction. The government must also understand the detrimental consequences of the partisan role of law enforcement agencies to the country and act accordingly.
