Bangladesh police introduce new grey-brown uniforms in symbolic reform effort ahead of 2026 elections, amid widespread public anger over 2024 crackdown
DHAKA: Bangladesh police have introduced new uniforms in a symbolic effort to signal reform and rebuild deeply eroded public trust.
The move comes just weeks ahead of the nation’s first elections since the 2024 mass uprising that left at least 1,400 people dead.
“Bangladesh Police have been facing an unprecedented crisis,” police spokesman Sahadat Hossaine told AFP.
“The policymakers suggested that a new uniform may bring a positive change.”
Police are replacing their familiar turquoise-and-blue uniforms with iron-grey shirts and chocolate-brown trousers.
Public skepticism remains high about whether uniform changes can repair the force’s shattered reputation.
“Whenever I see a policeman, I feel like biting his flesh off,” said Nazma Akhtar, whose 17-year-old son was killed during the uprising.
“How can a new uniform change their attitude?”
Her son Golam Nafeez was shot on August 4, 2024, denied hospital entry, and died from blood loss.
The nation of 170 million people is expected to hold elections in February 2026, with security forces critical to ensuring peaceful voting.
Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death on Monday for ordering security forces to use deadly force against protesters.
Approximately 450 of the country’s 600 police stations were targeted in vandalism and arson attacks after Hasina’s government fell.
“They left the police stations immediately after the previous government stepped down, and now they are struggling to get back on their feet,” Hossaine said.
Researchers documented widespread police brutality during the uprising, including the killing of unarmed teenage student Ashiqur Rahman Hridoy.
Around 1,500 police personnel now face criminal charges, mostly for murder, with dozens currently in detention.
An estimated 55 senior officers wanted for murder have reportedly fled to India.
Serving officers express their own frustrations, noting that 44 officers were also killed during the unrest.
Sultana Razia watched as her husband, a police inspector, was beaten to death by a mob after Hasina fled.
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus formed a police reform commission, but progress has been slow.
Public trust has fallen so sharply that mobs now routinely take justice into their own hands in many areas.
“I don’t see many changes,” said Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir of human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra.
“Police were used as political tools by successive governments,” said Alamgir Hossain, a motor rickshaw driver. – AFP