Local News
Kuwait, Bangladesh 'brothers in arms'
Interview by Ahmad Al-Khaled, Staff writer
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDE0NDc4NzE4
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDE0NDc4NzE4
KUWAIT: Kuwait Times sat down with the Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army, General Moeen U. Ahmed who urged local Bangladeshis to 'be good and behave'. Local Bangladeshis who primarily work as menial laborers and number around 267,000 have been much maligned in the local press and unduly blamed for criminal activities. Kuwait only recently withdrew a Ministry of Interior ban on Bangladeshi worker recruitment and visa transfers last year.
Q: What is your message to the Bangladeshi community in Kuwait?
A: Firstly, they must all be good Bangladeshis and they must behave. They must abide by the rules and regulations of the population, be a Muslim, be one, and work together for the development of that. As I have said in many places, to prove you are a good country and good citizen, all you have to do is a good job and Kuwaitis will tell us we are good. But one is enough to spoil a reputation - you must not allow that one person to do something bad for which all will be penalized.
I have talked to the government today. There are one or two cases, in any society I am sure... there are bad ones and we have to identify them. I talked to my embassy today and said they must identify them. If they are bad, counsel them, but the second time... you can't spoil the name of the country. This is one. One should be careful, we are in big numbers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other cases.
There are some other people who don't like that we provide so much manpower so they also make bad things and blame it on Bangladeshis. We should be careful and identify these cases. I have been told there are some Burmese who, when they are caught, say they are Bangladeshis. It is easy to say.
Our Kuwaiti brothers should also not be unnecessarily blaming Bangladeshis. An entire country cannot entirely be bad. I talked to the Army Chief and he expressed his praise for the excellent Bangladeshi soldiers. But outside, I hear, I have been told maybe there are some bad people around and we must identify them and take them out so our reputation as a nation is not spoiled.
Q: Tell us about your visit to Kuwait.
A: The first reason I came was to interact with the armed forces and the second reason was that my troops are here and I would like to see whether they are performing well. I have also invited (Kuwaiti Armed Forces Chief of Staff) Air Marshall Fahad Al-Amir to Bangladesh as he is who invited me to Kuwait so I am here on his invitation.
Q: Tell us about the cooperation between Kuwait's Armed Forces and Bangladesh's Armed Forces.
A: The cooperation started from 1980 when our Air Force personnel came on the station to work here providing pilots and technicians and that continued for some time. Then in 1990 when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, Bangladesh could not reach its people and its Armed Forces and we were very much concerned about what was happening here. It did not end there, we decided to fight side by side with our Kuwaiti brothers. We have sent two engineer battalions and two medical battalions and we fought worked through the war, we fought very strong and we continued to stay on board here for one year during the war and after the war. Seeing our performance, Kuwaiti Armed Forces decided to get Bangladesh more involved.
As you know after the war, the country was divided into six sectors. One of the sectors was given to Bangladesh to clear the mines and we did, according to Kuwaiti assessment, an excellent job - a tremendous job. After we finished our job, there was another country, I know who it was but I will not name them, that cleared mines and the school opened. On the first day, two or three children lost their limbs. Then we were requested to check this block. We recovered from that area eight truck loads of explosives. So their confidence in us built up and whenever anyone was cleared, we were requested to check to make certain it was OK on behalf of the Kuwaiti government. So that was the status we have.
In 1994, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding through which we previously had the Armed Forces service personnel providing logistic support for 10 countries. That created a problem with language, habits and culture and then the Kuwaiti government decided to see about that and only get Bangladeshis. This was discussed and the document was signed so since 1994, we have been here with about 4000 officers and men working here, residing here side by side with our brothers, the Kuwaiti Armed Forces, Army, Navy, and Air Force providing logistics and we are still clearing mines.
Q: Tell us about the human costs of the mine clearing operations conducted by Bangladesh.
A: For everything, there is a cost and we have paid it. We lost 59 soldiers in Kuwait and many were injured. But this will not deter us as our operation is ongoing. It is more or less clear. We recheck areas that have been checked previously and we find mines. Bangladeshis operate in demolitions as well as mine clearing Last year 6000 tons of explosives were demolished. They are not just mines, also unexploded ordinance. They are very dangerous and you cannot touch them and weapons caches.
Q: Can you tell us about the level of the morale for Bangladeshi soldiers stationed in Kuwait?
A: It is high because they feel they are in a Muslim country and there is a cause behind it. They are sending officers and men here and the Armed Forces and government are not getting any benefit, never. We want to convey our feelings and our support to Kuwaitis. We have 72 qualified doctors serving at medical installations as of now.
Q: Will you expand the number of troops stationed in Kuwait and do you have a long term contract?
A: I have talked with the Kuwaiti Chief of Staff about the issue and asked him to put a term of 10 years or five years whatever it may be. The manpower that we have given is from our authorization, so back home there is a vacuum. If the Kuwaitis suggested a long term period of time, then we could then request our government to authorize the number of troops for Kuwait and we can fill the gap. It would be good for us to have a long term contract. We want to be side by side with our brothers. Anytime, either in peace or in the battle field, you look for your brother and we will come.
[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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