Ehsanul Haque Jasim :
The move of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to collect personal details of house owners and tenants in the city created confusion and panic among the people. City dwellers said that the move had raised eyebrows among them.
Talking to The New Nation, some of the city residents on Tuesday said that they fear that their personal information could be used to harass them. They want end of the move. They said that they are baffled by this step.
Experts and lawyers said, collecting of such information is violation of rights to privacy as per the Constitution. Police could misuse the information of the house owners and the tenants, they added. They also said, the move is not desirable.
Police, however, said that their move is for curbing crime. Police already provided personal identification form in different areas. DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah on Monday said that they had been collecting information of house owners and tenants since November last. He asked all to submit the forms to respective police stations by March 15. He said that it is part of an effort to create a central database of city residents and their service staff and the move is intended to curb crime.
The city residents, however, termed the forms dubious and said that they have been baffled by the step. Many of them are unwilling to fill in the forms. But they are being forced by police to fill in the forms.
Bablu Ahmed of House No. E-115, Road No. 9/2 of South Banasree said that police members have been going door to door, providing forms and collecting information. He told the tenants of House No. E-115 to submit the forms to him along with copies of photograph and national ID card, as police will come to take the forms from him.
In this situation, a Supreme Court lawyer on Tuesday served a legal notice seeking a halt to the move of the DMP. Law Secretary, Home Secretary, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the DMP commissioner have been made respondents to the legal notice.
Jyotirmoy Barua, the lawyer, in his legal notice said that the DMP’s move is a violation of rights to privacy. As per the country’s Constitution, there is no legal basis of collecting such information of the house owners and the tenants. The information can be misused by the police.
The lawyer said he would take legal steps if the initiative is not stopped within 24 hours.
According to requires of the form, the information of all inmates along with the tenant’s domestic aides, guards and drivers has to be furnished in the form. The tenant’s NID No and the Passport No has also to be included.
Abu Bakar, a tenant of city’s Arambag area, said that the move is unnecessary and time-wasting, as basic information of the citizens were already furnished in the national identity (NID) card database. He, however, said that they are doubt whether the personal details would remain safe in police hands. “Even after having the NID card, why police need a personal details for second time? It is highly sensitive,” he said. DMP’s spokesperson Maruf Hossain Sardar said that the effort was taken for the sake of security, awareness and caution. About the legal notice, he said that would take next step in this regard after receiving the legal notice.
Referring to recent raids at different parts of the city, a DMP official said that the suspects took cover in the city in disguise of tenants and attempted to commit subversive activities.
Advocate Abed Raza, a Supreme Court lawyer, said that the move to create a database is unwanted and doubtful. “The terrorists or the militants don’t engage in terrorism and militancy by providing data. So the move won’t bring any benefit in stopping crime. This database will only increase public concern,” he said. He also said that the law already requires citizens to help the police in the conduct of their investigations. Creating a database will not add anything to the police’s ability to carry out investigations.
