Mobs cannot always be controlled using force, says home advisor

Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said raising awareness is key to “controlling mobs” and curbing such disorder with law enforcers is not always possible.

Visiting the Tourist Police Headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday, he took account of attacks on police.

Mob violence has surged since the political landscape began to shift owing to the July Uprising, targeting police and foreigners. Attackers are entering homes, causing destruction, and often identifying themselves as “Towhidi Janata” (religious zealots).

Responding to a question, the home advisor said: “I’ll not disagree with you on this matter. We’re bringing the perpetrators under the law as soon as they cause disturbance."

Seeking journalists’ cooperation to raise awareness on this issue, he said: “You’ll see police are also being attacked. People need to be made aware of these things.”

“When people become so unruly, it creates many problems. You can’t always control them with the army. The law-enforcing agencies are active too.”

He also pointed out that the government had been making efforts to prevent such incidents.

A journalist asked whether “students” could conduct a drive anywhere at will.

In response, he said: “No one has any right to do that. No one, except law-enforcing agencies, can conduct drives.”

The advisor highlighted tourist police's shortage of manpower, lack of a building and issues with vehicles.

“If our tourist police are active, foreign tourists visit our country and contribute greatly to the economy.”

On robberies by cutting down trees on the highway, he said: “These things happen more on the Tangail-Rajshahi route, but we are taking measures to prevent them in the future.”

“Necessary instructions have been given to the law-enforcing agencies to prevent these robberies."

He also said necessary measures have been taken to prevent extortion and robbery centred around Eid.