Khulna Correspondent //

Speakers at a citizen consultation meeting on police reform in Khulna said that a people-friendly police force cannot be built with the police laws and rules of the colonial era. Reform of laws and rules is essential to build a people-friendly police force. Everyone must work together to utilize the opportunity for reforms in many areas of the state after the fall of the political government as a result of the anti-discrimination student movement. If this opportunity is missed, the nation will have to pay a lot of price.

A consultation meeting was held at Hotel City Inn in Shibbari Morse in the city on Tuesday morning, organized by the non-governmental development organization, Transformation. One of the initiatives of the current interim government’s state reform program is the reform of the Bangladesh Police Force. This consultation meeting was organized to collect and record the opinions and recommendations of citizens of different professions and communities in the Sundarbans region to cooperate in this work.
The special guests at the meeting were Bipul Shahriar, coordinator of Khulna’s anti-discrimination student movement, and Rafiul Islam Tutul, member secretary of Khulna Press Club.

Rafiqul Islam Khokon, executive director of the Transformation, delivered a welcome speech at the meeting moderated by Professor Anwarul Qadir. Swapan Kumar Guha, executive director of the Transformation, thanked everyone at the end of the program.

Khulna University teacher Poonam Chakraborty, lawyers Mominul Islam and Masum Billah, journalists Gazi Monir Ahmed, Probir Biswas, civic leaders Syed Ali Hafiz, Iqbal Hasan Tuhin, Anwarul Islam Anu, Jhumur, Sumaiya Akhter, students Khadijatul Kubra and Alvi, among others, presented suggestions at the meeting.

The speakers said that elected representatives use the police as a party lathi-force after coming to power. This is not desirable. The opportunity created by the victory of the students and the public on August 5 to change the society must be utilized at any cost. A peaceful society will be established only when the police are servants of the people.