Chief Adviser asks police to regain people's trust

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus Tuesday asked the police to revive people's trust in the force, saying that the law enforcing agency must have to play a significant role in holding a free and fair election.

"We know police have various limitations and challenges - manpower and logistic shortage, inefficient budget and so on. But minimising the distance created between the police and the public during the last 16 years and reviving people's trust in the police force is our biggest challenge," he said.

The chief adviser made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of Police Week-2025 at Rajarbagh Police Auditorium in Dhaka.

He said restoring people's trust in police is not difficult when the distance would be gapped with the efforts from all levels.

Professor Yunus said police must work from the grassroots level to achieve confidence of the public and the government would provide all necessary supports to this end.

Referring to his comments that the next general elections would be held between December this year and June 2026, he said the role of police is very important in holding the polls in fair and peaceful manner.

The chief adviser said it is the responsibility of all to create an environment where people can vote freely. He asked police to ensure equal treatments of all candidates during the polls.     

Prof Yunus said when the interim government assumed power in August last year, the country's law enforcing agencies were in a fragile state.

A distance had been created between the people and the police and that was why the government took all necessary steps to improve the situation, he said.

He also said that measures were taken to ease suffering of people on roads, special drives were conducted and necessary stimulus measures were taken to improve the mental strength of police.

Professor Yunus said that the Durga Puja, Bishwa Ijtema, Eid-ul-Fitr, Bangla Nababarsha and other festivals were observed peacefully with the hard work of police.

The country's law and order has been brought under control with the efforts taken by the law enforcing agencies, he said.

The chief adviser also urged the police to play a strong role in preventing violence against women, ensuring that women from all classes and professions get support from police by calling to police hotline number.

About the role of police in the country's liberation war, he said the Bengali police members waged an armed resistance for the first time at Rajarbagh Police Lines on the tragic night of 25 march 1971, just prior to beginning the liberation war, and this history could not be forgotten.

In the history of Bangladesh Police, it is a chapter of great pride, he added.

Paying tribute to the police members who were martyred in the 1971 liberation war, he said for ages it was the great aspiration of people that rights of all would be established and there would not be any discrimination.

The law enforcing agencies must play a major role in fulfilling this aspiration, he added. The chief adviser said as police force was used as partisan force during the deposed autocratic regime, all systems of the country were destroyed.

In following the illegal and unfair orders of the autocratic (Awami League) government, the police force faced massive public anger, while many honest police member had to pay for this, he said.