Forgotten police reforms

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Ariful Haque
THE incumbent government made a pledge to the police. Countrymen were reassured from time to time during the last one and a half years that sweeping police reforms would be carried out. The declared objectives were to free the police from political control of whosoever comes to power or runs the government, thoroughly addressing corruption and immorality at different tiers of the police, making the police respond to public complaints and improvement of the logistical and other facilities to make the more effective in curbing crimes.
What happened to a comprehensive plan about the police force? Now the government is left with hardly three months before it hands over power. Therefore, the worry is growing that the opportunities are wasted by the caretaker administration.
The police follow the outdated Police Ordinance of 1861 introduced by the colonial British administration. The ordinance only facilitates misuse of police power by government. But the expectations created by the caretaker administration is also proving hollow. The expectations are fading. Can the government revive its interest to carry out the reforms with a sense of the highest priority before leaving?