Announcement of fast unto death by dismissed SIs
Dhaka: The dismissed trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) of the 40th batch of the police have announced a fast unto death by staging a sit-in in front of the secretariat until their reinstatement.
The 40th (cadet) sub-inspectors of the 2023 batch of dismissed SIs held a sit-in in front of the secretariat from Monday (January 13) morning demanding the reinstatement of their duties. They announced the hunger strike by holding a press conference as their demands were not met by 3:30 pm.
Dismissed cadet Alamgir Hossain said at a press conference, "We, 321 sub-inspectors, staged a peaceful sit-in in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 5 and 6 to protest the unfair dismissal of the 40th cadet sub-inspector batch of Bangladesh Police from the ongoing training and to demand their reinstatement." The Home Secretary met a delegation of us and assured us of taking appropriate action regarding our demands. Since we have not seen any visible action in our regard so far, we (321 people) have been peacefully protesting in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs since this morning (January 13).
He said, "Since we have not received any specific assurance from the appropriate authorities since this morning, we have announced a hunger strike until death as our next program from today (January 13) until we are reinstated in service. We will remain in front of the Secretariat until our demands are met."
The protesters, who took the stand earlier, said that we did not participate in the training on November 4, 2023. After the training was completed, a total of 321 people were discharged in four phases without being assigned to the job, citing various reasons. Therefore, we, the discharged trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) of the 40th batch, have taken a stand demanding our reinstatement in service.
Discharged cadet Sajidul Islam said, "A total of 321 people have been discharged instead of completing our training and posting for various minor reasons. 203 people were excluded for not having breakfast." 49 people were dismissed for standing in the field without listening to commands, 58 for being inattentive in class. 3 people were dismissed for not marching in class, and finally 8 people were dismissed for making noise in the field. Therefore, we would like to draw the attention of the government and request that we be reinstated in our jobs immediately.
Protester Anamika Saha said, "We have been training for a year, making many sacrifices, almost without pay. When we were supposed to be regular in the job, we were dismissed. Now we are roaming the streets in the hope of getting our jobs back."