The Monsoon Revolution and Limitations of Police Reform in Bangladesh

This article examines police reform undertaken in the aftermath of Bangladesh’s Monsoon Revolution of 2024. Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews with law enforcement officials, legal professionals, journalists, civil society actors and academics, the article analyses policing practices before, during and after the uprising. The findings show that policing during the uprising largely reflected entrenched authoritarian practices, including excessive use of force, politicisation and systematic human rights violations, rather than a temporary institutional breakdown. While the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus articulated a reform agenda and established a Police Reform Commission, initiatives remained constrained by structural legacies, weak accountability mechanisms and limited political consensus. These initiatives for reforms signal intent but ultimately fall short of substantive democratic transformation, highlighting the lack of democratic policing in Bangladesh.