Public confidence a safeguard for field admin

Editorial
Prothom Alo illustration

The apprehensions of senior public administration officials concerning the security of the field level administration is justified, in context of certain recent events. Over the last few days, police have been assaulted, police stations and upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) offices have been attacked, damaged and set on fire in various places of the country. Railway stations and other government institutions and establishments have come under attack too. According to home minister Asaduzzaman, property worth around Tk 1 billion (Tk 100 crore) has been destroyed in these incidents.

There has not been such massive damage done since the 2014 election and BNP’s continuous blockade in 2015. Police chief Benazir Ahmed has instructed his field level officials to use more powerful weapons if necessary. Addressing the field level police officials in a virtual meeting, he said that the violence must be dealt with sternly. If rubber bullets failed to bring the situation under control, the inspector general of police (IGP) said to take even more stringent measures. The Bangladesh Administrative Service Association has instructed ansars in charge of the security of field administration officials to carry arms and ammunition round the clock.

The security of the government personnel who work at a field level cannot be overlooked. It is unacceptable that any officer of the administration or the police force is injured while protecting government offices or property. The question is, how to resolve this matter? Firstly, the local administration must be on highest alert to ensure no such unwarranted incidents take place in the name of political or non-political programmes.

The events that have taken place in recent times are mostly centered on programmes of an organisation called Hefazat-e-Islam. The question must be asked, what advance preparations did the administration take in this regard? They could have met with the Hefazat leaders and told them that the programmes must be peaceful and that there could be no disruptive activities. They could have held meetings with the local people’s representatives too. The field level officers receive instructions from above. However, there are circumstances when they must exert their own prudence and judgement. Their objective must be to ensure least harm is done in tackling the situation. But in the recent incidents, there has been much harm done to the public and state property.

In Brahmanbaria, 17 people died, mostly members of the general public. Referring to the incidents in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon and Faridpur’s Saltha, the IGP said the concerned persons should have been more cautious.

The IGP’s directives to use more powerful weapons if needed, is a matter of concern. We have seen many instances of powerful weapons being used in the so-called gunfights during the anti-drug and anti-terrorism drives. This neither brought crime under control, nor improved the law and order situation.

The main safeguard for the security of the field administration is people’s trust. There must be an effort to resolve all problems through discussion. It must be kept in mind that when the officials of the republic violate the official rules and regulations to work in favour of a party, or against a party, order can no longer be maintained. And trust in the administration dwindles to nil.