RECENTLY, a news report which indicated that some elderly persons were humiliated by a junior administrative cadre officer has drawn flak from different quarters. People became agitated after the officer circulated some photos publicly about humiliating the elderly people. However, the officer posted in Jashore was withdrawn from duty and attached to the divisional commissioner’s office in Khulna yesterday. In the two photos those went viral on facebook, it was seen that the accused AC (land) of Monirampur upazila in Jashore Sayeema Hasan was taking photos with her mobile phone of elderly men holding their ears.
It was alleged that the female officer humiliated three men – one van puller, one vegetable vendor, and one bicycle rider — who came to buy groceries at Chinetola kitchen market in Monirampur on the day. She was trying to ensure through a mobile court that people were practicing social distancing to tackle the spread of coronavirus. The elderly men and several others were punished in the same way for not wearing masks. As our political leadership does not know what political leadership is, the civil servants became too powerful and less accountable to the people. The civil servants in many cases used to behave arrogantly. They are not be blamed generally. The matter of behaving arrogantly by a junior officer is not her fault. It is the failure of political leadership to politicise the officials including the police.
She must have a strong political connection and she wanted to show her arrogance as a public servant and may be doing something showing high enthusiasm for her position.
