PM urges police to ensure peace, security of country's people

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today called upon police personnel to try their best to ensure peace and security of the country's people. "Ensuring peace and security of the country's people depends largely on the role of the police. You should try your best to ensure the safety of lives and property of the people-this is what the government expects from you," he said. 

Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, made the call while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Police Week 2026 at the Rajarbagh Police Lines ground here this morning. Urging the police members to commit themselves to a new oath, the Prime Minister said, "Our responsibility does not end with remembrance alone. It is our sacred duty to protect the independence of Bangladesh at any cost, for which our police brothers sacrificed their lives. 

"Let no fascism or autocracy ever again be able to use police members against the independence of Bangladesh and its people. Standing on this soil stained with the blood of police during the very first moment of independence, let us today once again pledge ourselves to a new oath," he added.

The Prime Minister said the present government, formed with the people's verdict after a bloody student-people mass uprising in 2024 as a continuation of more than one and a half decades of movement and struggle against fascism, reflects the aspirations of the country's freedom-loving and democracy-seeking people. 

People who had been victims of countless attacks and cases, and repressed and deprived of their rights over the years, now expect peace and security under the current democratic government, he added. Recalling with deep respect all police members martyred in the Liberation War, Tarique Rahman said, "This is that historic Rajarbagh Police Lines where on the night of March 25, 1971, the occupation forces carried out a barbaric attack in the name of "Operation Searchlight" on sleeping police personnel and killed hundreds of them."

Praising the role of police members in the 13th National Parliament election, the Prime Minister said, "The 13th National Parliament election has proven that it is possible for Bangladesh Police to perform their duties with efficiency and professionalism. Not only in the country, Bangladesh Police has also been working with efficiency and reputation in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions."

Members of Bangladesh Police have set examples of professionalism, courage and humanity in maintaining peace, law and order, and protecting human rights in different countries, he said, adding that the role of women police members in United Nations peacekeeping missions has also been internationally recognised. "Therefore, humane behavior from the police is expected not only abroad, but also with the people of the country," the premier said. 

Referring to police resistance at Rajarbagh and Major Ziaur Rahman's declaration of revolt in Chattogram during the Liberation War, he said, "Major Zia's declaration of 'We Revolt' in Chattogram for Bangladesh's independence, and the strong resistance of Rajarbagh Police in Dhaka, left no room for the freedom-loving people to retreat from the struggle for independence." 

"However, from the generation of the Liberation War to the present day, we of the post-Liberation War generations, who learned about the Liberation War through history books or the direct experiences of veteran freedom fighters, still have some questions in our minds about the history of that period," the Prime Minister said.

Tarique Rahman said that in the turbulent March of 1971, when there was intense political excitement among freedom-loving people and thousands of troops were being deployed to Dhaka from then West Pakistan, the logic or strategy behind the then political leadership's decision to concentrate all police personnel at Rajarbagh Police Lines remains a subject of research for those studying Bangladesh's independence and Liberation War.

At the end of his speech, the Prime Minister congratulated the police and RAB members who took part in the parade and wished all-out success for Bangladesh Police Week 2026. Earlier, he inaugurated the four-daylong Police Week 2026 with the theme "Amar Police, Amar Desh, Sobar Agey Bangladesh (My Police, My Country, Bangladesh Comes First)". Prime Minister's wife Dr Zubaida Rahman was also present at the inaugural ceremony. Later, the Prime Minister and his wife visited the stall of the Bangladesh Police Women's Welfare Association (PUNAK).