Chhatra Shibir demands IGP withdraw 'crossfire' remark and apologise, calls it a fascist mindset

Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir has strongly condemned a remark by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ali Hossain Fakir that, with government permission, police would carry out 'crossfire' if needed. The organisation demanded that the remark be withdrawn and that an unconditional apology be offered to the nation.

Chhatra Shibir central president Nurul Islam and secretary general Sibgatullah made the demand in a joint statement on Monday, October 26.

In the statement, they said a public announcement of an extrajudicial killing such as crossfire from an official in the highest post of the police is an extreme blow to the constitution, human rights and the rule of law. When the head of a force responsible for suppressing crime presents extrajudicial killing as a possible step, it creates a threat to citizens' constitutional rights and the rule of law, they said.

The Shibir leaders said Articles 31 and 32 of the Constitution guarantee every citizen legal protection, life and personal liberty. Those rights cannot be curtailed by a decision of any executive authority, they said, and an allegation of crime against someone does not give police the right to take that person's life by ignoring the legal judicial process.

The Shibir leaders also criticised a statement issued by Police Headquarters explaining the IGP's remarks. They claimed that statement also tried to justify the IGP's remarks, which they called extremely worrying, and described that attitude as a manifestation of a fascist mindset.

The statement said the authority to determine who is a criminal and what the punishment will be belongs to the courts. The police's responsibility is to investigate crime and bring the accused before trial, they said, and police have no right to declare someone a criminal or punish them outside the judicial process. They also claimed there is no provision for crossfire as a punishment for any crime in existing law.

Raising the history of enforced disappearances, crossfire and killings without trial, the Shibir leaders said that during the fascist period citizens had no security of life and property and freedom of speech was trampled. People were picked up in the identity of law enforcement forces, and incidents such as disappearances, crossfire and killings without trial took place, they said.

According to the Shibir leaders, the IGP's recent remark has created fears of a repeat of that past situation. They claimed the remark, besides expressing an intention to carry out crossfire in the future, also indirectly hints at accepting responsibility for such extrajudicial killings committed in the past.

The Shibir leaders expressed concern that such a remark could encourage field-level police members to use illegal force and abuse power, and could also create fear among citizens. Such a remark from a person in the highest post of an important institution like the police is in no way desirable, the statement said.

The statement demanded that the IGP's remark be withdrawn and an unconditional apology offered to the nation. It also called on the government to take appropriate administrative action on the matter and to ensure that law enforcement forces are obliged to perform their duties in accordance with the constitution and existing law.