Of late, the director general (DG) of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has apologised to the victims of past crimes and the bereaved families of slain protesters during the July uprising. At the same time, he admitted that RAB had secret prisons (Aynaghor). He said, “We express our sorrow and apologise to those who have been abused or tortured by RAB since its creation and to the families of those who have been killed by RAB, including the seven murders in Narayanganj.” He expects justice through a fair investigation of these incidents. He added, “As long as I am in charge, my officers or RAB will never commit such crimes - disappearances, murders - in future under anyone's orders. If any member gets involved in any kind of criminal activity, we will take strict legal action against them.”

Earlier, the new DMP Commissioner apologised to the people for the role police played during the July uprising. He said, “I apologise to the people of Dhaka for the July-August incident. I further assure you I will serve the citizens of the capital in future with my colleagues. In the past days, the police attacked together with the helmet force; that era has come to an end.”

Apology from the top brass of law enforcement agencies is quite new in our country's context. Usually no one in our country takes any responsibility for any misdeed or collective failure; rather they desperately try to wash hands of any wrongdoing. No one in our country wants to give up power once they get it, they want to hold on to it. So, there is no question of accepting responsibility!

However, this is a common practice in other countries where public representatives and bureaucrats often step down from their posts while taking responsibility for intended as well as unintended mistakes. There are many such instances. For example, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted a drinking party with top government officials at his official residence in May 2020 amidst the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. He "sincerely apologised" in a speech to the British Parliament in February 2022 in the face of heavy criticism and demands for his resignation from the opposition. In his speech to the parliament, he said that the anger of the critics on him and the government is understandable.

Again, around 112 passengers died in a train accident in Andhra Pradesh, India in 1956. The then Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri accepted the responsibility for the accident and immediately sent his resignation letter to the then Prime Minister. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not accept the resignation letter. But three months after this incident, another train accident took place in Tamil Nadu. This time 144 passengers died. Lal Bahadur Shastri, driven by a sense of responsibility, resigned again, taking responsibility for the incident. This time Prime Minister Nehru accepted his resignation. However, Nehru said in the parliament, “Though he has resigned, and we have accepted it, that does not mean that Mr. Shastri has failed in his duty. The resignation letter has been accepted so that future generations can know and learn how honest and dedicated he was to the constitution and democracy."

On January 19, 2024, Norway's Minister of Research and Higher Education resigned after admitting to plagiarising someone else's research in a master's thesis. According to a report by the news agency AFP, she admitted to making a big mistake. She regretted using the writings of different people in the research without mentioning the sources. She said, “I made a great mistake and used others’ research data without crediting the source. I'm sorry.”

In March 2023, Greece's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport resigned over the tragic train accident. He announced his resignation after visiting the accident site. He said, “It is impossible for me to continue working pretending that nothing happened. I take responsibility for this failure and resign as Transport Minister. It is my duty to resign as a mark of respect to the people who died in the train accident. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”

Similarly, the foreign minister of the Netherlands resigned in February 2018 for lying. He is known to have lied about attending a meeting with Russian President Putin in 2006 as a representative of Shell. He had to resign bearing the responsibility of the scandal. He admitted his mistake before the journalists and said, “This is the biggest mistake I have made in my entire professional life and through this mistake I have lost my credibility as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.”

As human beings, everyone wants to be successful. There is nothing wrong about it. But the success should not be attained through dishonest means. It is also important to learn to take responsibility for mistakes while ascending the stairs because "to err is human." Therefore, admitting any mistake immediately is a sign of greatness. There is no shame in admitting a mistake, rather it brings glory and honour to the person who is regretting. By admitting their mistakes, the DG of RAB and the DMP commissioner have set an example for others to be followed in future.

The writer is a banker