Government Will Not Use Law Enforcement for Party or Personal Interests, Minister Annie Says in Lakshmipur
Water Resources Minister and BNP Joint Secretary General Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie has made it clear that the government will not use law enforcement agencies for party or personal interests in any way. He said the force must be used in the interests of the country and the people, and that this is a big responsibility for an elected government — because the government is accountable to the people.
He made the remarks on Friday (October 23) evening while speaking as chief guest at the oath-taking ceremony of the Lakshmipur district committee of the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) at Lakshmipur Town Hall auditorium.
Shahiduddin Annie said the police department has been run for the past 17 years in the way it was run. Now the elected government will run law enforcement agencies giving priority to the people's interests. The force cannot be used in the interest of any person or group, and the government's accountability to the people must be ensured.
Criticising the previous government, the Water Resources Minister said that government had no accountability; it did whatever it wished, whatever it felt necessary. In that, neither gold and other traders nor ordinary people truly benefited. That is why a movement had to be waged to establish voting rights, he commented.
Highlighting the relationship between democracy and business, he said the stronger the foundation of democracy, the stronger trade and the position of traders will be. It is not enough for the government alone to be patriotic; everyone in the country must be patriotic and responsible.
On the role of gold traders, the minister said gold traders can play an important role in creating employment alongside strengthening the country's economy. He raised this role of the business community at the BAJUS event itself.
Emphasising keeping the law and order situation normal for the development of trade, he said every business in the country depends on the law and order situation. So everyone must be alert and responsible about keeping law and order normal in order to maintain the business environment.
The most discussed part of the minister's speech is the government's position on the use of law enforcement. This declaration of not using the force for party or personal interests comes at a time when allegations of political use of the force in the past have repeatedly come under discussion — and in that context the statement is gaining importance in political circles.
The event, chaired by BAJUS central committee president Enamul Haque Khan, was conducted by BAJUS Lakshmipur district committee chairman Samir Karmakar. Local gold traders attended the event organised around the oath-taking of the district committee.
Present as special guests were BAJUS Standing Committee on District Monitoring vice president Azad Ahmed, BAJUS Institute chairman Anwar Hossain, BAJUS central committee's former general secretary Dr Dewan Aminul Islam Shahin, and BAJUS election board chairman Mizanur Rahman Manik.
Also present were district Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad president Shankar Majumdar, district Puja Udjapan Parishad president Swapan Chandra Nath, general secretary Shimul Saha, and BAJUS leaders.
The central theme of the minister's speech at the event was accountability. It is because an elected government has accountability that the people's interests will get priority in running the force — with this logic he drew the difference between the present government and the past.
It remains to be seen how much this declaration is reflected at the field level. Political observers will watch what administrative steps are taken to implement this position of the government on the neutral use of law enforcement agencies.
