Bangladesh's top police official urges policemen to resume their duties and maintain public safety
Dhaka (PTI): A top police official in Bangladesh has called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain public safety and law and order amidst reports of attacks on the law enforcement authorities in the violence-hit nation.
Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) A.K.M. Shahidur Rahman, who was appointed as the focal person of the Bangladesh Police on Tuesday to handle the current crisis, asked his force to ignore rumours.
"The police are friends of the people and work for the public. We cannot imagine a society without the police. Therefore, I request our police members once again to ignore rumours and return to their duties in a phased manner, ensuring that security arrangements are properly in place," he said, emphasising the crucial role of the police in maintaining public safety.
Most police stations in the country, including the capital Dhaka, currently have no police personnel present, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Multiple police officers have reported that over four hundred police stations across the country have experienced attacks, vandalism, arson, and looting. In this situation, no one feels safe staying in their respective stations or offices, leading everyone to seek safe shelters.
A police headquarters official mentioned that the police have not faced such a situation since 1971, the report said.
In many places, clashes broke out between the police and agitated mobs. Consequently, law enforcement officers vacated various stations overnight.
After the attack on the police headquarters on Monday night, senior officials were evacuated to safety by helicopter. Many climbed over walls to escape the headquarters. Law enforcement broke down in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on Monday, with police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic, bdnews24 newsportal reported on Wednesday.
Since Monday afternoon, the police presence in urban areas dwindled, and by Tuesday, the breakdown of the police system was evident throughout the country.
Attacks on police stations and facilities across the country, resulting in numerous police casualties, have led to this unprecedented situation, the report said.
As the army took charge following Hasina’s ouster and the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday and appointed 84-year-old Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an upcoming interim government.
Meanwhile, the readymade garment (RMG) and textile factories across the country will reopen on Wednesday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper said.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the apex trade body of the country's RMG manufacturers, urged its members to open their factories on Wednesday.
BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel, a participant at the meeting, told the paper that they were going to reopen their factories for the betterment of the country's economy and workers.
In a separate statement, Sulov Chowdhury, CEO of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), urged its members to reopen their factories as there is an announcement to keep industrial units open in the present context.
However, considering the current situation, he also urged the BKMEA member factories to ensure the overall safety of the factories, along with their workers.
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Time has come to implement Women's Reservation Act: PM Modi's letter to LS, RS floor leaders
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New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place.
In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women's reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
"After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country.
"It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women's reservation in place," the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11.
The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18.
The Women's Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.
The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023.
However, the women's quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is.
To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.
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