The recent government decision to authorize an auxiliary security force, Ansar, to arrest people and carry out search operations has sparked widespread criticism among various segments of society -- including the main political opposition and the police force.
A day after Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan introduced a proposal to amend the Battalion Ansar Act 1995, the main political opposition BNP said the impacts of giving arrest power to Ansar would be a dangerous decision.
The proposed law contained two new sections (7 and 8) which would authorize Ansar force to arrest people and hand them over to the police. Also, they would be authorized to carry out search operations if the bill would pass with the two sections unchanged.
The Police Services Association strongly opposed the bill presented before Parliament. The following day, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the leaders of the police force had meetings with the Home Minister for two days in a bid to persuade him to drop the two controversial sections, according to the police, which would create two police forces in -- Bangladesh Police and the Ansar. The police vehemently oppose Ansar’s emergence as a full-fledged force with policing power.
To achieve their goal, the police have carried out campaigns in the media and among MPs, expressing their displeasure with the government decision to authorize Ansar to arrest people and carry out search operations.
One MP from Noakhali turned up at the office of the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan inside the parliament building and read out a message sent by a police officer, requesting him to oppose giving Ansar the power to arrest people and carry out search operations. I, as a reporter, was present at the home minister’s office when the MP read out the message to the home minister.
The MP talked in favour of the police.
The next day, at the meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry, the MPs discussed the bill in presence of the police and the Ansar representatives. Finally, the committee decided that Ansar would not get the power to arrest and search people. But the decision was backtracked.
The police’s pointed reaction and activism was probably more of a factor in this backtracking, since the BNP’s disapproval had little influence on the government decision to upend Ansar’s supposed conversion into a full-fledged public security force.
I have been covering parliament and the parliamentary standing committees for more than 23 years, and have seen few instances of MPs vehemently opposing a bill placed in Parliament by a minister.
Many people interpret the ruling party’s U-turn on the Battalion Ansar Bill 2023 as something of a blow to the government -- the bill was changed before the members of the standing committees could discuss it. They mainly took the opinion of the police and made the recommendations in line with the position of the police association.
This incident perhaps brings to question the government’s lawmaking process, especially in terms of inclusivity, even though we do have opposition parties in Parliament. The public perception now is that the police are more influential than our MPs -- which indeed would be unfortunate, if true.
But now the question remains: Why does the government listen to the police’s demands?
AKM Shahidul Haque, a former IGP, has told me that the government would not receive police support if they would authorize Ansar to arrest people and conduct search operations.
With the general elections mere months away, the government looks dependent on the police to face the opposition’s street agitation, according to the opposition anyway. There is perhaps some merit to these allegations, but not entirely. We have seen in the past that the ruling party had utilized the police to suppress the opposition, justifiably or otherwise. The Awami League’s return to power may depend on active police support in the next two and three months as the opposition flexes muscles to overthrow the government through street actions which may turn violent.
We need a strong and institutional police force, there is no doubt about it, but there must be some effective institutional mechanisms in place to make them accountable. An inclusive and powerful political system can achieve that.
Unfortunately, we do not see any sign that the political system would command over other agencies of the executive including the police and other security agencies.
Kamran Reza Chowdhury is a journalist.
