Home adviser must retract his comment

It is deeply alarming to see Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury issue a verbal directive to police officers to arrest people even without a case, an instruction that strikes at the heart of the due legal process. By issuing such an order, Chowdhury has constituted a fundamental breach of the law that he is supposed to uphold. In a society governed by rules, the police are only enforcers of the law. There must be a credible, specific complaint and a legal basis for arresting a citizen. A warrant, or at the very least, clear legal grounds (or reasonable suspicion) must exist as a safeguard against abuse. Yet the home adviser seems to have instructed the police to tear up this rulebook.

Chowdhury reportedly told the Narayanganj superintendent of police, "Whether there is a case or not against an Awami League criminal is irrelevant. You must immediately bring them under law. Failure to do so will result in action against you." The assertion that the existence of a case is "irrelevant" is stunning. In a democracy, a formal case is not a technicality; it is an essential prerequisite for any legal steps. By separating the power of arrest from the requirement of evidence, the home adviser is effectively inviting the police to act ultra vires—beyond their legal authority. Law enforcement agencies cannot be granted carte blanche to sweep up political opponents, or criminals, on presumption alone; this would erode the very legal system the interim government claims it is trying to restore.

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Home adviser must face reality, not try to spin it

The context for this directive is "Operation Devil Hunt Phase 2," a security drive that has detained nearly 2,000 people in just 24 hours. While the government has a legitimate duty to disarm and arrest violent actors and maintain public safety, it cannot do so by ordering the police to break the law. When a home adviser threatens punishment for police officers who refuse to arrest uncharged individuals, he poisons the chain of command, forcing officers into an impossible choice between their oath to the law and obedience to superior command.

The fact that he now appears to be taking his legal cues from those demanding these arrests is deeply worrying, even if their grievances against the previous regime are valid. If an individual has committed a crime, the proper course is clear: the police must file a case and obtain a warrant. Anything less is an abuse of power. If the police can arrest someone today without a case or evidence—simply because a person in authority brands them an "AL criminal"—then the country is sliding back into the dangerous territory it sought to escape not long ago.

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Will the home adviser go big or go home?

The interim government must not repeat the repressive tactics used by the former regime. Chowdhury's order must be retracted immediately and publicly. Law and order cannot simply be restored by breaking the law.