Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has repeatedly claimed that the country’s law and order situation has improved. But a series of incidents in Dhaka in recent days has raised fresh questions over the government’s ability to maintain public security and ensure effective policing.

The latest concerns follow several incidents involving attacks, vandalism, looting and alleged police inaction. Taken together, they have put the Home Ministry under growing scrutiny and raised questions about whether the authorities are doing enough to prevent violence before it occurs.

On September 25, a group of attackers reportedly raided and vandalised the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur’s Shah Ali area and looted valuables from the premises. The incident has drawn particular concern because police were reportedly present in the area but failed to stop the looting.

The Home Minister himself acknowledged that preliminary evidence pointed to police negligence and inaction. The officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station was subsequently withdrawn and departmental action was announced.

But that raises a more fundamental question: Why was the police response ineffective while the attack was taking place? Disciplinary action after an incident may be necessary, but it cannot replace the responsibility of preventing such incidents in the first place.

Another incident involving content creator Salman Muqtadir has also attracted attention. According to the Home Minister, three people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Muqtadir’s studio, with weapons and ammunition reportedly recovered. The minister said the incident appeared to be linked to a land dispute and urged anyone facing extortion attempts to file formal complaints.

Meanwhile, a police operation at the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) office has also generated controversy. The Home Minister said the authorities had intelligence suggesting that some members of the banned Awami League were planning acts of sabotage there. Around 280 people were reportedly detained for questioning, although most were later released, while 27 remained in custody at the time of the minister’s statement.

JSD leaders, however, said police permission had been obtained for the meeting. This has raised questions over the legal basis of the operation, the grounds for detaining those present and whether adequate due process was followed.

The Home Minister has previously defended the government’s record, saying the law and order situation had visibly improved during the first six months of the BNP government, while acknowledging that more time was needed to meet public expectations.

But the government’s performance cannot be measured simply by the number of arrests made after an incident. The real test is whether the authorities can prevent violence, ensure police accountability and take action against offenders regardless of their political identity.

The recent incidents should therefore serve as a warning to the Home Ministry. People do not need repeated assurances; they want to see the state’s authority working on the ground.

For the Home Minister, the real challenge is no longer simply to act after a crime has occurred. It is to ensure that the state is strong enough to prevent such crimes from happening in the first place.