Why do we still need police verification?

On 29 September, Hasanul Haque stood among the protesters gathered in front of the Police Headquarters on Phoenix Road. According to one of their coordinators, Md Saif Ahmed, they were excluded during the police verification of the 26th Sergeant and 40th Police Sub-Inspector (SI) Recruitment Test for their family's connection with a "political party" or "BNP".

"I took the physical test in Rajshahi for three days in scorching heat. After qualifying there, I was selected for the written test. After the written exam, our computer test is conducted. Before the computer test, there was a police verification to learn about each of our political ideologies," Hasanul said.

"Only those who are affiliated with the Awami League or Chhatra League were recommended for employment through this verification," he added. 

According to him, he never participated in any political party activities, nor did his family members. "It was my uncle who supported the BNP and participated in local political activities," Hasanul, a graduate of Rajbari Government College, said.  

Now they are waiting for the government to recruit them through a re-advertisement for the posts.

In the 1920s, when the anti-British movement and the Swadeshi movement were at their peak and British officers were being attacked, they started 'police verification' for job recruitment to check whether the person was affiliated with any anti-British political beliefs or vandalism.

On 24 October this year, Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud said that no member of any banned organisation (which includes the recently banned Chhatra League) can be involved in the activities of the republic. He said members of these organisations who are in process of being recruited will also be excluded.

However, a month after that announcement, on 19 November, the Police Reform Commission recommended discontinuing the practice of checking the political affiliation of candidates during police verification, especially in job recruitment. 

The head of the Police Reform Commission, Safar Raj Hossain, stated there have been complaints that political affiliations are prioritised in police verifications. He said while police verifications will continue, "the political affiliations of the candidate or their family members will not be taken into account. The national identity card will be considered as the primary document for verification."

Police verification generally involves police members of your local police station visiting the address you have mentioned as your residence in your submitted papers. They verify whether you actually live there, by talking to neighbours etc, and check whether you have any criminal record or are affiliated with any criminal activities.

This system exists in our country not just for job recruitment, but also for passport applications, when someone from the local police station visits your residence for verification and they are infamous for asking for 'cha-paani', meaning asking for bribes.

It has also given birth to another practice — character certificates issued by the local ward commissioner or union parishad chairman. 

Former IGP (Inspector General of Police) Muhammed Nurul Huda said these practices were brought here by the British because of political reasons. In the 1920s, when the anti-British movement and the Swadeshi movement were at their peak and British officers were being attacked, they started 'police verification' for job recruitment to check whether the candidate was affiliated with any anti-British political beliefs or vandalism.  

"Banning political parties is not new in the subcontinent's history. The communist party was banned in British India and then later, during the Pakistan period," said Huda. 

He added, "People affiliated with these parties were not recruited for government jobs. Later when the ban was lifted, it was no longer a problem." The Communist Party of India, founded in 1925, was banned around 1929 by the British. The ban was lifted in 1942 when the Soviet Union joined the fight on the British side during World War II.

The Communist Party of Pakistan was banned in 1954 on charges of plotting to overthrow the then government of Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan. During these periods, people affiliated with leftist politics were not allowed to be in government jobs. 

Now that there is no such ban on the party, people, or rather 'leftists',  can join the public sector. 

The norm, however, has continued in Bangladesh, where police verification is carried out to see whether the applicant is affiliated with any 'destructive' activities or any political activities that do not align with the direct principles of the nation.

"Because these kinds of people should not get into positions of the republic, for the wellbeing of the nation. Recruiting them means corrupting the system," said the former IGP.  

When it comes to police verification, the process also involves taking a character certificate from the local ward commissioner or union parishad chairman, which you have to submit along with other papers. 

Even for collecting an online birth registration card, you need this character certificate, which states that the commissioner or the union chairman knows you and assures that you have a 'good' character, and you are not affiliated with any criminal or destructive activities. 

But how does the commissioner or chairman know this person? To know more, we visited Dhaka Ward No 2 Commissioner Atikul Islam's office in Bashabo. However, he was not in his office and we spoke to his secretary Md Saiful, who explained the process to us. 

"We do not just hand out a certificate to anyone. You need to bring your national ID card and its copy, a copy of your birth certificate and the electricity or gas bill of your residence. We also verify with the landlord of the building you stay in and after that, we give you a character certificate," Saiful said. 

They primarily check whether the person has any criminal record or any objection from the landlord and the neighbours. When we asked whether they take money in exchange, Saiful denied saying that they do not sell character certificates.  

But in this digital era, where everyone has a digital footprint on every platform, how logical is it to ask for character certificates for verification? 

From smart national ID cards to biometric registrations for mobile SIM cards, every step has some digital footprint and they can be viewed digitally. 

We spoke with Nayeem Reza, an IT specialist currently based in Heidelberg, who says the entire process can be carried out online. "In Germany,  it is called a 'certificate of conduct', referred to as a "police check", "background check" or "criminal records check" — an official document printed on special green paper which shows whether or not an individual has previously been convicted of a criminal offence. 

This is required if you are starting a new job, or if you need a permit from a public authority, for example if you are applying for a taxi licence, or wish to carry out voluntary work with vulnerable people.

"We can apply for this online, with a German identity card activated for online use and a smartphone equipped with NFC technology with an app such as the free "AusweisApp2" from the German government. After the verification, we can collect it from the local residents' registration authority or straight from the Federal Office of Justice website. The entire process is online," Reza said. 

"If you want to withdraw this system, it should be limited to withdrawing the verification of political affiliation, because students might be involved in political activities during their education period, which does not necessarily mean they hold on to the same ideology still. But police verification is necessary, even today. If they are associated with destructive activities, or any offense related to political activities, you must take those into account," said Nurul Huda. 

According to him, from a bank guard to a clerk, everyone's job is important. Sometimes anyone can enter the job by changing their name and identity. Later that person can be involved in some crime. So verification is essential.

This means you may have a political affiliation, but you must not be involved in any criminal offence.  And he believes someone needs to certify this. 

"Maybe someday these things will not be needed, there will be more technology available for such verification. But for now, someone needs to verify the information a candidate provides. And the reason it is given to the ward commissioner is because they are the local government's representative, and from this position, they can investigate properly," he concluded.