‘Massive reform needed in judicial process, policing’

The judicial process and the policing system of the country need a “massive reform” to reduce the scale of repression against women, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government said yesterday.

He also said repression against women is taking place at a “tremendous scale” due to the existing culture of impunity.

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He was addressing a parliamentary-format inter-college debate contest as chief guest on Feni madrasa student Nusrat, at BFDC auditorium in the capital.

Debate for Democracy organised the competition which was won by Siddheswari Girls’ College, arguing in favour of the topic “Justice for Nusrat will reduce repression against women in the country or not”, by defeating Dhaka Commerce College.

Hasan Ahmmed Chowdhury Kiron, chairman of the organisation, presided over the programme.

Dr Akbar Ali Khan said, “The accused are taken to the court; police investigate; but only three percent are punished through police investigation and judicial system.”

“A recent allegation against police is that they don’t accept FIR (First Information Reports) and GD (General Diaries) like they used to before, to prove their efficiency (in maintaining law and order),” Dr Akbar Ali Khan said. “The judiciary and the policing system of the country need a massive reformation. Otherwise, the situation will not improve.”

Replying to a query, Dr Khan said, “If you look at cases of women and children repression, courts were formed for quick trial; but the backlog of cases is same as other courts... just forming special tribunals will not be enough; there is a need for massive reforms in the country’s judicial process.”About backlog of cases at courts, Akbar Ali Khan said, “It will need one hundred years to clear the existing cases in Bangladesh.”

He gave a three-point recommendation to develop the situation: women’s empowerment, reformation of judicial and policing system, and good governance.

He suggested that Bangladesh can learn from the experience of countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany where the rate of such crimes is lower.

Debaters at the event pointed out that impunity and prolonged trial are main reasons behind the increase in repression against women, where a single example -- justice for Nusrat -- could affect in to a small extent, but not as a whole.