Although the authorities cited disciplinary violations as the only reason for dismissing SIs, the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council believes that the number of Hindus there raises questions. Acting General Secretary of the organization’s central committee, M. K. Nath, said that the investigation into the complaint should be clear. Such a sweeping punishment is unacceptable. However, officials at the police headquarters say that action has been taken as per the rules due to disciplinary violations. In this case, no one’s religious identity was seen. 252 sub-inspectors (SIs) who were training at the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah, Rajshahi, were recently dismissed from their jobs citing disciplinary violations. Then, news came on social media that 91 of them are Hindus. There are also two Buddhists and one Christian.
During the Awami League government, 823 people were finalized for appointment as SIs in 2023 and sent to the Sardara Police Academy. After 19 people were discharged for various reasons, including joining the BCS, 804 people were left at the end. They were supposed to join the service next month after completing their training as cadets of the 40th batch. But after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the student-public movement on August 5, the BNP questioned the appointment as SIs. The party demanded that it be canceled, alleging that this appointment was made based on party considerations during the Awami League period. Five days after BNP raised this demand, 252 SIs were discharged at once on Monday, citing breach of discipline.
Of these 252, 91 are Hindus, an employee in charge of the academy’s temple maintenance confirmed to Sakal Sandhya. Information was also received from those who were released that there were two Buddhists and one Christian among them. In this group of 804, 166 were Hindus. Out of them, two more Hindus were released at the same time. The temple employee told Sakal Sandhya, “Every Friday evening, an evening puja is organized at the temple for the trainees at the academy. Participating in that puja is disruptive for the trainees from the Hindu community. That is why the temple has a list of trainees from the Hindu community.”
He said that there were 166 people from the Hindu community in the 40th batch. A total of 93 of them are now absent. The number was confirmed by Sakal Sandhya after contacting five people from the Hindu community among those who were exempted. An SI in training told Sakal Sandhya, “After exempting 252 people, efforts are being made to exempt 59 more. There are many from the Hindu community among them. I am one of them.” Questioning this process, he said, “Certain rules and regulations are followed in exempting someone from training. After the person against whom the allegation is made, the matter is investigated. Testimonies of many are taken. Then, if the crime is proven, he is given final discharge.
“But none of this happened to those who were dismissed on October 21. They were dismissed within a few days of filing a complaint on trivial grounds. We are also walking the same path.” In the dismissal of 252 people, the reason given was that they created a chaotic environment in the field by making noise without eating breakfast. Apart from this, show cause notices have been sent to 10 more people on charges of creating chaos by sitting in training classes. A dismissed SI told Sakal Sandhya, “The academy’s rule is that if someone commits a wrongdoing, he is given a minor punishment first and if he commits the same crime repeatedly, he is given a major punishment. “But in our case, we were dismissed directly. We want a proper investigation into the allegations made against us. The allegations of breach of discipline regarding breakfast should be shown, the CCTV footage of that day. Only then will everything be proven.”
Commenting that the release of so many religious minorities at once is ‘unusual’, Hindu Buddhist-Christian Unity Council leader M.K.Nath told Sakal Sandhya, “The matter is sad and at the same time questionable. Normally, maybe 2/4 people can get released, how is it normal to release so many people at once? “This incident is a bad signal. It can bring bad things in the future. If there is any complaint against anyone, it should be investigated specifically. Such a sweeping punishment is not acceptable.” Earlier, the police headquarters had said that the issue of maintaining discipline of the trainees is completely handled by the Sarda Academy. The police headquarters has no hand in it.
When asked about the fact that 91 out of 252 were Hindus, Police Academy Principal and Additional IGP Masudur Rahman Bhuyan told Sakal Sandhya, “If you have any information, please contact the police headquarters.” When asked about the matter, AIG (Media and Public Relations) of the police headquarters, Enamul Haque Sagar, told Sakal Sandhya that no one’s religious identity was taken into account in taking action. “All the cadet SIs who were training in Sarda who were discharged on very specific charges, i.e., breach of discipline.”
Claiming that this step was taken in accordance with all the procedures, AIG Enamul said, “They have been released after following the due process.” Former president of Dhaka Metropolitan Universal Puja Parishad, M.K. Nath, alleged that religious minorities are being discriminated against even during the current interim government. He said, “There was discrimination against minorities in the past, and that discrimination still exists. Just a few days ago, so many people gave their lives in the anti-discrimination movement. Yet discrimination is still being perpetrated. “After the formation of the interim government, reform committees were formed on various issues. However, the required number of minority representatives were not included in those committees. Does that mean that there are no more people among the minorities? If this continues, the purpose of the movement will fail.” Source: Shokalshondha.
