Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Effective participation of women makes a country economically, socially and culturally developed. To establish rule of law and good governance, women empowerment is necessary. The participation of female Ansar personnel has increased globally over the last half of the century. Nonetheless, women’s under-representation at the senior Ansar level is widely evident because of the patriarchal social, structural, philosophical and cultural barriers prevailing within the organization. Though the Constitution of Bangladesh emphasizes the equal participation and opportunity of women in every sphere of job, women get a very little access to public services especially in the Ansar-VDP organization. As a result, women get a little scope and occupy a significant position in the key decision making of the service. The position of women in the family life is very complex regarding different aspects like custom, values, religious conservative attitude, security, social dignity, biological factors and for participation of women in the decision-making activities in society and nation as a whole.
The society of Bangladesh can be seen as a typical example of patriarchy, where women are relegated to domestic spheres with limited rights, while relatively powerless in the public sphere. Here, dominant patriarchal ideology has established male superiority. In order to further understand the context in which women are debarred to join in Bangladesh Army, Police and Ansar, one need to understand the normative part of the male dominated society. The importance of normative structures in this research is the outcome of it. We need to take an objective step out of the normative structures in society. So far from the formation of Bangladesh Ansar, women are treated as less valued part of policing. Mostly, higher authorities appoint them to serve the clerical purpose and for searching the suspect. But they have the potentiality to do all the laborious work like their male counterpart.
After the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country on 16 December 1971, the Ansar-VDP force was reorganized and it assumed the role of a national force. Though Bangladesh Ansar bears a long history, the formation of women Ansar in Bangladesh began in 1980s. Female officers first joined in Bangladesh Ansar in Bangladesh Ansar Cadre from BCS’84 batch. In Bangladesh Ansar-VDP, there are many regular, volunteer and embodied female members who have been employed & deployed for maintaining low & order situation, who also provide election duty and guard key point Installations like Airport, Radio station, Power station, Parliament house & do many protocol duties with police force. From the smallest level of commands step by step up to the highest in both Ansar and Police are given trainings and courses of various actions and regimentation, but still, in most of the field level actions, the members of Ansar Bahini have proved their efficiency not less than any other forces. In some cases, the female members are found more action oriented. As they are employed of deployed with police, they are supposed to do the act of policing. After embodiment, one comes under one uniformed and unique operational command. Bangladesh Ansar -VDP female members are also deployed in RAB. There are separate Female Battalion Ansar unit in Bangladesh Ansar-VDP from where the national emergency is also met. Moreover, there is a female band unit, which is unique in Bangladesh. There are notable figures of female Ansar VDP in sports arena where the female players are doing good job and earning name and fame for Bangladesh. The Ansar and VDP women’s events are played at 40 events, both national and international. Events are Boxing, Bodybuilding, Weightlifting, Taekwondo, Karate, Table Tennis, Cycling, Shooting, Gymnastics, Judo, Wrestling, Handball, Football, Swimming, Archery, Athletics, Kabaddi, Volleyball, Cricket, Fencing, Ushu, National Golf, National Football, Martial Arts, Boatrace, Badminton, Lawn Tennis, Kick Boxing, ITF Taekwondo, Throw-ball, Baseball, Softball, Roller Skating, Basketball, Chess. About six hundred players regularly participate in various competitions.
Women’s employment in Bangladesh police & Ansar-VDP plays a significant role to ensure rule of law, secure the rights of women and provide better service in Bangladesh Ansar-VDP. However, Bangladesh bears a patriarchal and matrilineal social system that dominates woman’s life. As a result, the employment status of women in Bangladesh is still lower than the expected level. The status of women in Bangladesh is closely related to the situation experienced by many pro-active women in the world. It is expected to contribute significant insights from gender perspective regarding the topic of women’s challenges in the workplace with their changing expectation. Equal participation in different services will help women to strengthen their social and economic position in our society. The government, the Police Headquarters and Bangladesh Ansar-VDP have to be more sincere and attentive to implement the existing policy more effectively in order to ensure full and enthusiastic participation of women in balanced policing which can be considered as a role model in our neighborhood countries. Consequently, the fullest empowerment of women will be truly established and the domination of male culture and negative attitude of patriarchal society will be substantially reduced. Thus, we can hope a positive and better image of Bangladesh Police & Ansar-VDP, which can be a matter of pride and can largely contribute to building a sustainable and prosperous future for Bangladesh.
(Former DDG of Bangladesh Ansar-VDP, writer, columnist and researcher)
