At least four people were killed and more than a hundred others injured on Tuesday as religious men clashed with police in Bhola’s Borhanuddin upazila over a hate conversation spread through Facebook and messenger. At one stage of the clash that broke out around 10:30am, law enforcers had to fire shots to disperse the mob, who since Friday had been demanding punishment of a Hindu youth they claimed was responsible for the hate conversation from his Facebook account, said police. The zealots torched a house and vandalised 12 more belongings to the Hindu community in Borhanuddin municipality around noon same day.
Protests are going on all around the world — but even the Israeli police find it difficult to kill four Palestinians in one single demonstration. In Hong Kong the people continuing the protest causing serious disruptions but police did not open fire on the demonstrators to straight away kill them.
So the fact is that they are our citizens and they should have given the scope to realise the actual situation. The police of a free country should be more careful to handle such a delicate situation. But four persons were killed by the police and they have started cases against five thousand people. They even do not know their names or whereabouts and the police will be free to arrest anybody in connection with the protest. This is an over-practiced police method but it cannot politically be right for containing public ire. Situation has aggravated all over the country.
We have to regrettably suspect that the police are not getting proper training and guidance as a police of free Bangladesh. The people’s lives cannot be considered so valueless that killing should be an easy solution. The police are employed to protect life and not to kill without due process of law.
We are conscious that the police are not fully aware of their responsibility to the people. Like colonial days, the police are still of the view that they are the government’s police for serving only the government.
As the news goes — there is scope for others to think that the situation was not handled by the police with care and deliberation. The question can also be raised why local administration with local leaders did not try to calm the crowd.
