Three cheers for police on their return to old original form

This article is a work of humour.

The police have started to return to their original form, and there's no bigger relief than this right now. 

Reports of the police regaining their old form have surfaced from Ashuganj in Brahmanbaria.

None from Ghaziabad or Delhi asked to inquire where that officer-in-charge's village is. We don't need to trace his lineage, either. The big news for us is that the police have managed to return to their original and true character. This is a significant achievement for us.

To the police force, we extend our congratulations. Please accept our admiration and gratitude.

The police had been out of form for the past two months. However, unlike our cricketers, they did not take long to regain their form. This, at the moment, is an event that feels like finding direction amidst a lost path for many.

If the police aren't acting under political pressure or bending to the will of influential people with their wealth, then what kind of police force are they?

Police must be synonymous with operations and arrests based on false or motivated cases.

The police must be in line with the behaviour of keeping their own collected arms at the house of a person they will arrest or contraband like yaba (methamphetamine) in his pockets.

Slaps, punches, and kicks should be used during arrests. Of course, during operations, some "cash" must also be collected.

If we don't see these characteristics in the police, we don't feel their presence, and we start to feel unsafe.

Exactly two months ago, after the student-people uprising on 5 August, some police members fled. Some took time to return to their duties. Those who did return to work were hesitant and fearful.

But this couldn't go on for long. As things have begun to return to normal, the police, too, have shaken off their indecision and are now returning to their original form.

And the good news is, it has already begun.

Their return began in Ashuganj, and we can expect this trend to spread across the country soon. It has to. 

Otherwise, how will we know that the police force is active again? How will we know they have returned to their previous behaviour of chasing ordinary people, leaving the real culprits untouched? 

After all, they are public servants, and the public must feel that presence.

Many of us may already know what happened in Ashuganj, Brahmanbaria, where we've found traces of that old hunting police. If we summarise the report from Prothom Alo, the events unfolded as follows:

• A BNP leader was arrested in connection with a case related to the attack on students involved in the anti-discrimination movement filed by an expelled BNP leader.
• The arrested BNP leader was allegedly framed in this case because he had a hand in the expulsion of the plaintiff.
• During the arrest, yaba was deliberately planted in his house, and the arrest was made on charges of drug possession. Additionally, the police extorted Tk550,000 in cash and obtained signed cheques from the detainee.
• The police threatened him with additional charges, including drug trafficking and other cases, if he did not cooperate.
• He was slapped and punched during the arrest, resulting in injuries to his forehead and the right side of his neck.
• The BNP leader endured physical and mental torture throughout the night in the police station.
• He was warned not to disclose these events, or he would face further cases, including in Dhaka.
• Due to public pressure, the plaintiff (the expelled BNP leader) retracted the BNP leader's name from the case via an affidavit, leading to his release.
• After the details of the incident became public, a police inspector and two sub-inspectors were withdrawn.

From this description, we can see that even though the police began working with broken morale after the events of 5 August, they have now regained their motivation, just like before.

During the period when the police were inactive, we heard repeated calls for "motivation" from high-level authorities. It is clear that this motivation has returned to the force.

However, what remains to be seen is whether the much-talked-about police reform will enhance this motivation even further. And if it does, will it put the public in even greater danger?

For so long, their masters were corrupt, dishonest, and exploitative political forces. After the reforms, when the police themselves will become their own masters, what they will desire is known only to God.