The 321 trainee sub-inspectors (SIs), who were dismissed from the 40th batch of cadet SIs, on Tuesday continued its second day of hunger strike in front of the Secretariat, demanding reinstatement in their jobs, a day before the batch of cadet SIs would complete their training through a closing march-past.
In the second day, the protesters vowed to continue their indefinite hunger strike until their demands are met, and warned that they may intensify their movement if necessary to realize their demands.
The closing march-past of the 40th batch of the cadet SIs is scheduled to be held on Wednesday (today). Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam will receive honour from the cadet SIs in a programme at Sarda Police Academy in Rajshahi.
The dismissed SIs begun their sit-in protest in front of the Secretariat on Monday, demanding immediate action on their reinstatement after failing to draw the attention of the government even after getting an assurance from the Home Secretary recently.
After their demands remained unaddressed until 5:00pm on Sunday, the group held a press conference announcing the start of their hunger strike.
Later that evening, at around 6:30pm, a four-member delegation of the dismissed SIs entered the Secretariat for a meeting with the authorities.
However, the protesters declared their hunger strike would continue after the meeting with the Secretary of Public Administration yielded no result.
In a press conference, Alamgir Hossain, one of the dismissed SIs, said, "We, the 321 sub-inspectors of the 40th Cadet Sub-Inspector Batch of Bangladesh Police, were unjustly dismissed during our ongoing training. We staged a peaceful sit-in protest in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 5 and 6, where the Home Secretary assured us that appropriate action would be taken. However, we have yet to see any visible progress on our demands."
