Police- the friend of the people, or Jonogoner Bondhu has been used to death in our filmdom, both in the small and the big screen. For many years, I have wondered what the reaction of the audience was when this line was uttered.
In our celluloid, the men in uniform have always been glorified, often a bit too much.
Even if a few bad apples were shown to make a movie plot more compelling, there was always decent cop (s) to balance out the evil ones.
To cut a long story short - police have mostly been lionised, especially during the last regime, when several big budget films plus OTT productions were made specifically with the intention of showing the humane, integrity driven, moral side of the police.
Regrettably, while on screen the law enforcers were seen to defend the just, the real world was almost a total contrast. As we all know and will have plenty anecdotes to share - out there in the real scenario, the prospect of police involvement hardly created an impression of justice and neutrality.
During the past government, the police force was blatantly made into a uniformed political wing. The footage and pictures from the student-mass protest capture the egregious politicisation of the force.
Anyway, we all know this. The past is inglorious, but the future can certainly be a different story, if we are resolved to bring in transparency, accountability and, exorcise the colonial fear inducing doctrine from the force.
A citizen should have the say in how the force should be, after all, the core foundation of the police should be based on serving the people.
Here's what we want the police to be, it's not a tall order and not even a Utopian expectation.
Break the barriers to earn the respect:
The colonial period 'maintain law by injecting fear'won't work anymore.This obsolete approach, combined with flagrant politicisation, created a distrust among the masses about law enforcers.
A sense of disdain that people have developed towards the law enforcers can only be alleviated once the police come forward and simply decide to shed the old skin to reach out to the masses.
Friendly and courteous will be the norm, firm and unbending when needed - that should be motto.
Every ward in Dhaka has a police station and while there were regular patrols in the past, the police public interaction at the human level was mostly rare.
Interestingly, in New Market area, where this writer is a regular visitor, a laudable transformation has developed post Aug 5 as police on duty are often seen sharing genuine pleasantries with the locals, often engaged in what appeared to be hearty discussion or,adda as we call it in Bangla.
Just be humans, that's what we ask, instead of creating a wall of fear!
That delicate matter of 'Cha Paani' expense: In the list of euphemisms that most use while dealing with the law, is the 'Cha paani' (Tea and snacks) - a polite term for some monetary incentive. If we call a spade a spade then this is a bribe and, sometimes, the amount paid for Cha Paani is enough to buy several sprawling tea estates.
Anyway, we all know the various dimensions of the so-called 'added incentives'. To be honest, the culture of giving someone a tip to have a cuppa isingrained in our culture and, therefore, this system may be hard to expunge.
After all, if we think carefully, all of us, often unknowingly, provide an extra motivation in some place or the other. If a member of the office support staff is alert in giving you piping hot tea just when you need it then he deserves a special acknowledgement, right? Giving the tea is perhaps his duty but even then, we don't hesitate to recognise his/her dedication.
From a strict moral angle, it's bribery but hey, life is not always about rigid rules. Keeping that in mind, if someone is happy with the service of the police and, offers them a treat, there shouldn't be an uproar. However, this cannot be the norm.
Those who are not in aposition to offer anything at all must not be neglected!
To look at a more sinister side,the common understanding,which has developed over the years is that when one has to go to the police station to settle anything, cash is needed.
From getting someone released from a framed case to having a name struck out from an FIR to influencing the investigating officer of a case, cash transactions had become essential.
Whileit's easy to say this culture must be stopped, the realistic expectation would be to minimise such cash dependent activity at the police stations.
To achieve this, on one hand, the integrity of the law enforcers is needed but, more importantly, an independent safeguard system needs to in be place.
Under this, every police station of the capital will need to be answerable to a board, comprising three members: one each from the media, civil society and academia. The civil society member can also mean a respected religious scholar or a moulana from the local mosque.
The contact number of the board will have to be displayed boldly so any aggrieved person/party can directly contact them in case they feel exploited or neglected.
This may sound a little too elaborate but given the current lack of trust in the police plus its dubious record of being usedmostly as a tool to politically serve the party in power, there is no other way.
A fair recruitment system: For too long, the recruitment in the force has been a murky affair with allegations of underhand monetary transactions.
In addition, several regions in the country, known to be the strongholds of the last government, were reportedly given preference.
Several papers reported that the corruption was so ingrained that in the selection of sub-inspectors, the going rate for confirmation of employment was between Tk. 30-40 lakh.
Naturally, when someone has paid such an amount either by selling family property or by borrowing the money at high interest, the urge to recoup the amount is high, which, eventually, fed the cycle of venality.
The current government should set an example by holding merit based, totally non biased selection process with the selecting board in each area featuring once more notable members of civil society, media and academia. For each selection board, the head must be a person from the defence forces.
We see reform in the air although the changes have to be thoroughly thought out to include innovative approaches. The ideas above should not be too tough to implement. These measures can begin in the cities and, based on success rate, replicated in rural areas. To be frank, it will take several years to lose the layers of grime accumulated on the police but with a few intelligent moves, we can see tangible results within a short time.
PradoshMitra is a social observer!