Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman has said police have the legal authority to kill someone in certain circumstances under the right to self-defence, while stressing that the government does not want excessive force used to suppress protests.

He made the remarks at a briefing at the Secretariat on Tuesday in response to a question about the ongoing garment workers’ protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka.

“Under their right to self-defence, the police have the legal authority to kill someone if the circumstances warrant it,” Zahed said.

However, he stressed that any use of force must remain within the legal framework and be proportionate.

“What we want is for this government not to suppress protests in the way such situations were handled in the past,” he said.

Zahed said the government did not want the police to behave like they did under the ousted Sheikh Hasina administration.

“I said on another day that the police in Bangladesh would never again be like Sheikh Hasina’s police. That is our expectation. I am saying this as a citizen, not as someone in the government,” he said.

Acknowledging reports of disproportionate use of force in some places, the adviser said he was raising the issue despite being part of the government.

The remarks came after a journalist questioned why the government was failing to control the ongoing protests, which it has linked to the Awami League. 

In response, Zahed said the government was following a different approach to handling unrest, seeking to minimise harm and disruption to the public.

“Whether we call them teenage gang members or anything else, they are citizens of this country,” he said, adding that the relevant law enforcement agencies had intelligence information about the situation.

He expressed hope that the protests would end “within a very short time”, saying genuine garment workers had initially joined the demonstrations over legitimate demands.