On the road to perdition!

Present scenario and some queries
Adept in the game of buck passing and always finding justification for our inaction, we may still harp on the much-repeated excuse of inheriting a colonial police system but the ground reality is that the books and guidelines that the colonial masters left do not stand in the way of developing a truly professional organisation. This aspect assumes heightened significance today in Bangladesh when everyone raises the accusing finger towards police and pronounces that the latter are ill-equipped and incapable to handle the crisis arising out of the galloping violence and in particular the multiple bomb blasts of the recent past. Assuming that we have now reached a nearly hopeless situation, is it not time to do some real soul searching and find out why are we in such a mess as alleged in the pronouncements of the guardians and the pundits?

Now may be the time when we must know why investigative efficiency of the police has deteriorated and whether such efficiency can be attained in isolation without setting the expected organisational goal of the police. It may also be appropriate now to know the pattern of resource allocation for increasing the professional competence of the investigative outfits. One may also venture to know if there is a lack of proper emphasis in fixing priorities and deciding the core functions of police in a pluralist society like ours.

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The above queries are, without doubt, in public interest and therefore, in the fitness of things can no longer be the subject of discussion for a select few who, until now have not displayed sufficient concern and pragmatism for modernising our police outfit. The select few which include this writer amongst other former police chiefs and political leaders have not succeeded in the desired manner but that must not debar them from making analysis and framing recommendations so that we do not reach a precipice and plunge the posterity into anarchy. As a popular advertisement on anti-drug movement in USA says that the fact that you were an ex-addict should not hold you back from counselling your addicted son because the drugs destroy an entire generation.

Ground reality and some police functions

Police functions can be broadly categorised into crime and public order duties although they cannot be bracketed in watertight compartments. In Bangladesh, a disproportionately large segment of the police manpower has to be earmarked for the public order contingencies because of the volatility of our body politic. A case in point is that of Dhaka Metropolitan Police where less that 15 percent of the entire strength of more than 25,000 personnel is earmarked for investigation of crime. More manpower, though not the only index of better performance, for investigation could bring substantive relief to the victims of crime. In reality, however, the overbearing compulsions of public order situation characterised by intermittent hartal, political rallies, student and industrial unrest, amongst other, drain away the meager resources and engage large manpower and thus practically there is an apology of expenditure for crime investigation.

For facility of understanding and clarity let us look at the budgetary provision of the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) a national outfit that is exclusively meant for investigation of serious and scheduled offences of the country. Upon perusal it is surprising to note that in the budget of more than Tk 35 crore for the CID for the year 2004-2005 there is no allocation whatsoever for purchasing scientific equipment for the crime laboratory of CID, the apex investigating outfit of the country. This is lamentable in the background of the commitment to modernise our investigative machinery, to say the least.

The cumulative neglect towards increasing the investigative efficiency over the last decade and even before that has brought us to a situation where we are uncomfortably watching external agencies dealing with matters on our soil in which we may at best seek expert opinion only. No useful purpose will be served by fixing responsibility for failure at this stage but if we do not want our pride and professionalism to be further hurt, we would do well to invest more and allocate greater resources for proper recruitment, in-service training, modernisation of Forensic Laboratory and specialist squads for investigation. Barking out orders or purchasing lethal weapons may serve some purposes but investigation has to be scientific, modern and level headed to prove equal to the initial stress following an incident and strong enough to withstand the subsequent test of rigorous scrutiny in the court of law. If that happens as is the expectation of every well-meaning citizen then full confidence will be restored in the efficacy and impartiality of the investigation body and responsible leaders will not demand external intervention and supervision.

Let us remember that investigation of a criminal offence is the exclusive function of the investigative body of a sovereign state and any deviation in this regard places that body and the sovereign people in shame and disgrace. At the same time we must take sufficient care to ensure that the process of investigation is not vitiated by the alleged political direction and extraneous consideration.

Intelligence

The broad police function of maintaining public order for ensuring internal security is closely associated with the task of collecting and collating intelligence in the interests of the state. In reality, in our situation, the interests of the state often get diluted and mixed up with the interests of the government of the day. The situation is marked by an unfortunate lack of understanding and appreciation of the requirements of the state and the government in a democratic and pluralist society like ours. The unpleasant truth is that agencies maintain file and shadow the leaders and workers of pronouncedly constitutional politics-oriented parties belonging to the opposition who are recognised partners in the business of politics. At some point of time when such opposition party comes to power, there is an uneasy relationship between the political masters and the agencies. In such a scenario professionalism becomes the worst casualty, sense of direction is lost, the organisation dips into a lackadaisical environment and interests of the state take a back seat giving greater space to partisan considerations. In saying so one is not oblivious of the fact that State interests may undergo change but the values of a democratic polity are universal and as a such demand unconditional adherence to it.

Intelligence agencies of the region and beyond cooperate for mutually beneficial reasons but the national agency is expected to be able to effectively serve national interests if directed appropriately by the political authority. If they (agency) have to remain preoccupied with largely inconsequential partisan matters to the detriment of national interest, then we will not be able to manage the crisis situation, not to speak of forestalling the tragedies of recent times. We have been criticising the agencies very loudly without, however, appreciating the impediments to the growth of an apolitical professional organisation. Time has come when we must have the honesty to call a spade a spade and realise that the governments will change hands but not the state.

In Bangladesh today we are passing through a sad time when doubts are being expressed publicly about the efficacy and honesty of some vital organs of the state whose functions can neither be arrogated to others nor be privatised. The compounding tragedy is that such criticisms by leaders of our society cannot be summarily dismissed for reasons mentioned hereinbefore. It would not be prudent to treat a disease by denying its very existence. At the same time we cannot give in to the cynics by agreeing to endure what cannot be cured. We can definitely overcome the impasse by dint of political goodwill and foresight if we admit that the damage caused during the yesteryears have to be repaired and the safety and security of the people will receive unbiased attention. Let us be forewarned that progress in the damage repairing will be slow but if we can muster enough courage to initiate the process and avoid being myopic, our future generations would be the proud citizens of a healthy polity. Our politicians, have to take the lead. Let them rise to the occasion.

Muhammad Nurul Huda is former Inspector General of Police and Secretary to the Government