'Feeling more unsafe now': Bangladesh police officer's wife expresses fear over raging violence
Times of India | 7 August 2024
I came to India on July 28 on a normal holiday. In India, I had hoped I would be able to visit Kashmir. But that was not to be.
My husband - a police officer in Dhaka - was called back to work. While the tension back home stopped him from returning, I have several other relatives and kin who are in the police.
Since Monday, I have been hearing of one police station after another being looted and set on fire.Worse, several cops are being targeted and killed. I am worried about my relatives, my friends and my husband who can barely hide his emotions.
Since the fall of the Awami League govt led by Sheikh Hasina, the policemen have been suffering from fear and insecurity as police stations across Bangladesh have become targets of miscreants. In the past few days, many policemen have been killed in clashes with the protesters for merely following orders.
They did as they were told to do. Now I am extremely worried about their security. I hear that the Bangladesh Police Subordinate Employees' Association has announced an indefinite strike. One might presume the situation when cops call for strikes.
I had booked a ticket on an Indigo flight at 2.50 pm on Tuesday but it got cancelled. Bangladesh Biman too has not been able to provide any surety of confirmed tickets. We have already checked out of the hotel as we wish to be with the family at this moment of crisis. Now, I am desperately trying to get a bus ticket to return home.
The visuals that are coming from my country have unnerved me. I cannot imagine a popular movement getting hijacked. The students are our future. To see them being used by people who are going around and looting every govt property is disheartening.
The new govt needs to be tolerant. We cannot go about vandalizing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's statues and busts.
The PM's residence is not just a piece of personal property. It has a historic significance. Hence, we need everyone to sit together and establish peace first. Most people of Bangladesh are peaceful and are extremely hopeful about the future.
When I go back to Dhaka, it should fill me with pride and not with apprehensions.