What a mess! What an understatement. :-( Isha Khan wrote: > *Two days of madness in Bangladesh* > * > *By Chidi-Nelu > > > * * > > > Bangladsh, a densely-populated, a lowland country, is not new to armed > unrest. As a matter of fact, this Bengali-speaking nation, lying in > between south Asia's two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, was born > in 1971, due to a revolt by the people of former East Pakistan against > the central authorities then based in Carachi. > > After India's decisive intervention in helping the Bengalis break away > from the rest of Pakistan, thirty-eight years of independence have > been fraught with coup d'etats galore, civil unrest and political > paralysis. Umpteenly, Bangladesh and its 136 million people have faced > political crisis, big time: but, every time that has happened, the > military have intervened, because they see themselves as the > guarantors of Bangladeshi security and stability. > > The last time the armed forces of Bangladesh intervened in partisan > politic to put a stop to inter-party violence was just over two years > ago. Rival supporters of the country's two most powerful; politicians, > Beghom Khalida Zaer of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, B.N.P., and > sheikh Hassina of the Awami League, had turned the national capital, > Daka, and other big cities across the impoverished land into a > battle-zone, bringing the business of governance to a virtual standstill. > > The caretaker, civilian administration which the military installed, > same year, 2007, attempted to ban the two women political leaders from > party politics; but, more importantly, it succeed in over-seeing a > two-year-long political transition, which culminated in a general > election, this January-comfortably won by Sheikh Hassina and the Awami > League. > > Barely two months after she was returned to power, her first major > test confronted her. A mammoth challenge and a far-reaching one at > that, it came again from the military. Apparently, a section of the > national armed services had grown tired of the status quo, and > revolted in dramatic fashion. > Trouble erupted in the wee hours of Wednesday, February 25, when > paramilitary (soldiers) based in one of Bangladesh's sixty-four camps > of the so-called Bangladeshi Rifles, or B.D.R., mutinied. That was in > the Daka headquarters of the B.D.R. Troops in the barracks had > confronted their superior officers and began murdering them. > > By late afternoon (Wednesday) matters had gone haywire, as residents > of Daka, scared to bits that a bloody military coup was underway, > scampered for safety. By then, it had become clear that members of the > B.D.R. were behind the violence. As heavy gunfire reverberated aground > the city, but, coming mostly from the B.D.R. headquarters, leaders of > the mutiny started giving interviews to the world media. > > One said, "we had to take up arms, because we have been exploited for > more than 200 years. We're demanding the dame wages, working > conditions as ordinary soldiers." > So, that was it. The B.D.R, numbering some tens of thousands, are > resentful of the way regular army officers have always been brought in > to head their units. Their national duties were different than that of > the regular troops, which is, primarily, to secure the country's borders. > > By early morning Thursday, the 26th regular had managed to enter the > barracks in Daka, to discover to their horror, the first group of > dozens of dead bodies of army officers, apparently murdered by the > B.D.R. subordinates and dumped in one of the large drains that ran > under the barracks. > > Earlier on in the mutiny, the Bangladeshi authorities had cut off > public telephone lines across the country, in an attempt to prevent > B.D.R. units co-ordinating the rebellion. But, apparently, that > measure did little to stop the same terrible spate of violence by the > aggrieved border guards spreading to towns and cities where other > members of the Bangladesh Rifles are stationed, including the main > port city of Chittigong. > > Meanwhile, Sheikh Hassina, the prime minister, seemed to have decided > earlier enough in the crisis to act. Her response was two prolonged; > on the hand, to apply some sort of military pressure on the mutineers, > and on the other hand, use negotiations. She first sent negotiators > into the barracks to urge the border guards to lay down their weapons, > offering the mutineers in return, an amnesty for those who > co-operated. An olive branch, no doubt, but not without a terse > warning from the prime minister. "I'm urging all to show restraint," > she told the rebels on national television. "Please, embrace peace for > the sake of the nation," she went on. "This is my appeal. I've > instituted a hipowered committee, headed by the home minister, to look > into the demands of the B.D.R. members. > > Right at this moment, you surrender your weapons and go back to > barracks. Otherwise, I will be compelled to take action."In effect, > the prime minister threatened to order an all-out assault by the army, > if the border guards failed to comply. The tactic worked. By mid-day > (Thursday), the 26th, the mutiniers selected from among their ranks > about fourteen officers who they sent to the prime minister's > residence for negotiations. By nightfall, reports that deal had been > reached came ringing out from the prime minister's office. The > rebellious paramilitary troops, it was said, had agreed to begin > laying down their arms, in return for a blanket amnesty from the > government. The government had also agreed to look into the > grieviances of the mutineers, including allegations of discrimination > and corruption against their leaders, who have always been drawn from > the regular army. > > In keeping with the spirit of the deal, the mutinous troops began > laying down their arms, as the day drew to a close. But, the > government was going to take nothing for granted. Even as the > shootings died down, heavily armed regular army troops were ordered to > move in, taking up positions in and around the B.D.R. headquarters in > the capital. Down-town Daka began to look like a war zone, as a number > of tanks, about fourteen in all, were brought in to reinforce the > imposing presence of grenadiers and machine-gun-wielding troops, many > dressed in battle fatigues. > > As hour followed hour, more and more members of the civilian > population were streaming out of their homes and other hiding-places > to watch interventionist troops who had already brought the situation > under control, at least at the Daka headquarters of the B.D.R. Not > only had several civilians been hit by cross-fire, during the height > of the fighting on Wednesday, but, army divers, who later entered into > sewers inside the headquarters building to search for more bodies, > reportedly fished out dozens more corpses, many believed to belong to > regular army officers murdered by their B.D.R. subbordinates, in the > early hours of the mutiny. Clearly, a number of the mutineers had been > killed themselves in the clashes. > > The arrival of dawn on Friday, February 27 was accompanied by joyous > scenes in the streets of Daka, as residents of the city mingled with > soldiers as if to examine the scale of the bloodshed that had hit > their country in so short a time. Not only had hundreds of lives been > destroyed, but, a significant number of army officers commanding > B.D.R. units were sill missing. It was probably at that juncture that > Sheikh Hassina, the prime minister, decided to go back on her promise > of a blanket amnesty for the mutinous border guards. Would be allowed > to take advantage of the amnesty. > > In other words, all those who participated in the mass murder of their > superior army officers will face prosecution. Almost at once, the army > announced that some 200 mutineers, who had attempted to sneak out > their barracks, had been arrested and detained. > > http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/mar/13/national-13-03-2009-06.htm > > > > >
-- Linda *http://freedetainees.org <http://freedetainees.org/> "If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear..." - William Shakespeare * --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "bangla-vision" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bangla-vision?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
