Bangladesh's State Minister for Home Affairs Mr. Shamsul Haque Tuku has advised the journalists to keep a 'safe distance' from the country's police while both the journalists and the police are on duty. The minister is cited in the national media including The Daily Star's online edition on 30 May 2012, that he said, "I will tell my journalist friends that they can avoid such unwanted incidents if they collect news or take photos through keeping a safe distance {from police}. I hope you {journalists} will consider it." The remarks were made in a meeting held at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity on 29 May.
It is understood that the minister referred the incidents of police brutality on three journalists of Daily Prothom Alo, who have got their limbs fractured as a result of police torture at Agargaon in city of Dhaka on 26 May. The remarks of the State Minister for Home Affairs sound dangerous while he is asking the journalists to keep a safe distance from the police instead of taking any convincing action to change the police's official habit of using torture against the people of Bangladesh. It appears that the minister did not think about what he was telling to the people. The minister's comment also exposes that how unrealistic mindsets the cabinet members of the government posses as the people may ask a counter question that how many million people can maintain the so called safe distance from the police while torture is endemic in the country.
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