A Tale of a Two Star General At a time when the BDR incident is still being investigated, the political blame game is still on, the people are still being haunted by the barbaric gruesome murder of the army officers, and the heart-wrenching mourning of relatives of the slain officers is still being heard, a report carrying a picture of the BDR and BSF joint patrol at Agartala border point was published on Aug 5 in one of the Bengali news dailies. The news report raised a few eyebrows and many questioned the necessity of a joint border patrol with the Indian border security force at a time when objections are being expressed by many security experts to possible Indian involvement in the reorganization process of the Bangladesh Rifles. Against the backdrop of all this, the DG of the Bangladesh Rifles gave an interview to the Bengali daily to refute the allegations that he ordered the Bangladesh Rifles to participate in the joint patrol with the Indian border security force and to express his views on border management, in general and border crossings, border killings, and geographical and economic threats, in particular. I, as a citizen of Bangladesh, have found his views on the above mentioned issues not only shallow and incompatible with reality, but also disheartening for the fact that such deleterious views on national interest exist among some of the top brass of the Bangladesh Rifles. I, therefore, would like to contradict his views and discuss the issues from a realistic perspective so that the ordinary citizens of Bangladesh know the flaws in the BDR DGs views and get a vivid picture of the consequences of such ill-informed, unrealistic, absurd, and narrow views for the people of Bangladesh residing in the border areas. Economic threat vs Geographical threat While the BDR DG acknowledged the existence of economic threats, he summarily dismissed the existence of geographical threats from other nations and implied that we should be more flexible and open-minded about India. I neither agree that Bangladesh is facing an economic threat from any particular nation nor approve his complacent views that geographical threats have diminished in the current global geopolitical situation. True, we are at fault for the huge trade imbalance that the nation has been incurring since the early 90s with India as not only did our the then finance ministry fail to conduct a thorough impact analysis of the consequences for local small and medium scale industries of opening market to a much larger and more powerful neighbor, they didn't even see that without a negotiated deal India would not be morally or legally obligated to compensate for the losses that Bangladesh would sustain because of trade imbalance through soft loans, investments, and duty-free access for our products to Indian market. Had they only analyzed the U.S.-Canada trade relation, they would have seen that Canada is making 81.6%[1] of its total export earnings from the U.S.A alone because of smart application of free trade principles to extract maximum economic benefits from a larger economy. Unfortunately, the then finance ministry could neither show the foresight nor the prudence to realize the risks of creating a lopsided trade relation with India by opening up our market without extracting similar privileges from India on a reciprocal basis. But the trade imbalance with India does not constitute an economic threat for Bangladesh yet as we have diversified our import source by opening up market to the Chinese,[2] achieved trade surplus with many other nations and had a unique opportunity to act as a land bridge to enhance regional economic interactions between SAARC and ASEAN and to transform ourselves into a regional commercial hub to achieve formidable economic growth and to cancel out the negative impact of mammoth trade imbalance with India before it could escalate into an economic threat. I also vehemently reject major general Moinul Islam's views that the days of geographical aggression against weaker countries are over and major powers such as Russia and the U.S.A are working together on various global issues dissolving their past bitter rivalries because such sugar-coated empty words are often uttered by gullible people who do not keep abreast themselves of current world affairs and by those who are unaware of the growing rivalries between Russia, China and the U.S.A for establishing supremacy in East Europe, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific to achieve their respective energy, political, and military objectives. After the end of the WWII we have seen the world to get united under the umbrella of the United Nations to promote peace, stability, and tranquility throughout the world by engaging in constructive dialogue with the member countries to reduce the risks of conflicts and to foster cooperation, confidence, and friendship.[2] But because of the desire of global domination, the strategic rivalry among big powers never ceased to stop and we have seen fierce competition between the erstwhile Soviet Union, China and the U.S.A in Korean peninsula, Vietnam, the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East throughout the cold war. At the end of the cold war, the world breathed a sigh of relief and hoped for peace and stability across the world because with the demise of erstwhile Soviet Union, the root cause of instability was gone forever, at least the world had thought so. But the soaring hopes and aspirations were soon dashed with the start of the first gulf war and the subsequent mass militarization of the Middle Eastern countries. The world could hardly manage to recuperate from the scars of the first gulf war, when a deadly terrorist attack upon the U.S.A shook the whole world and plunged it into deep instability and confusion. The subsequent reckless invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and mindless killings of innocent civilians by the Western powers in the name of war against terrorism did nothing to improve the situation filled with fear, uncertainty, and insecurity. Russia has been highly critical of the U.S. unilateral actions worldwide to impose its will on other nations and deplores the U.S. move to establish anti ballistic missile defense shield in East Europe and Central Asia, rejects the U.S. action against Iran, regrets the U.S. criticism against lack democracy in Russia, and opposes the U.S. policy in the Balkans.[3] Under this circumstance, Major General Moinul Islam's remark that both Russia and the U.S.A are working together in international issues is naive at best and ignorant at worst. In fact, Russia has formed strategic partnership alliance with China to counter the U.S.A in Central Asia,[4] flexed its energy muscle to make the European nations dependent on Russia,[5] and sold arms to anti U.S. nations like Iran and Venezuela to expand its own sphere of influence.[6] In South Asia we have witnessed similar strategic game plan between regional powers that resulted in four Indo-Pak wars in 1948, 1965, 1971, and 1999 respectively that changed the map as well as the strategic landscape of the region. Despite being peaceful nations and having nothing to do with competition for regional supremacy, Bangladesh and Sri-lanka became the worst victims of proxy war sponsored by India in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Jaffna and had to fight a full-blooded guerrilla war against Shanti Bahini[7] and Tamil Tigers for more than two decades before some sort of peace was established in their respective insurgency infested regions. Because of strategic geographical location, Bangladesh cannot rule out the threat of a physical aggression against her either directly or through a proxy so long as India continues with its exploitative policy in the North East to alienate the indigenous people and fails to make China agree to abide by the McMahon Line to relinquish its claim over Arunachal Pradesh. Economic relation vs Patriotism The BDR DG accused the people of fake patriotism who, on the one hand, protest against BSF's excesses in the border and on the other hand, buys Indian products in the market. It occurred to me that major general Moinul Islam is unable to distinguish between economic and security relations and has no idea about how nations around the world are cooperating with each other on the economic front while acting against one another on the strategic front. China, on the one hand, is sending ship load of products to the U.S.A to make $337 billion a year from the U.S. market[8] and on the other hand, is forming strategic partnership with Russia to counter-weight the U.S. influence in East Europe, Central Asia, and the Asia Pacific. The U.S.A is playing the same strategic game with China and working closely with Japan, Australia, and India to contain the rising Chinese influence in the Asia Pacific while importing cheap Chinese products worth of $71.5 billion for its own economic interest.[9] The same mismatch of economic and strategic interests in the relationship between India and China also exists. China considers economic progress vital to its goal of achieving domestic stability, and therefore it is making vigorous effort to promote its economic interests overseas. The trade between China and India has reached the $20 billion mark and is likely to hit the $50 billion mark by the year 2010.[10] But the booming trade between the two Asian giants should not be construed as strategic rapprochement between the two countries who fought a bloody war in 1962. China is busy cultivating deep military relations with countries near the Indian Ocean as part of its 'string of pearl' strategy, making massive military preparation in Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions, and refusing to honor the so called McMahon Line, which India views as a direct threat to its national security.[11] In response to Chinese strategy, India has already signed a strategic agreement with the U.S.A to acquire the most modern nuclear technology and military hardware to augment its own deterrent power, and has initiated talks with Maldives for a permanent Indian naval base to counter Chinese 'string of pearl' strategy.[12] So like others, Bangladeshis can remain alert about their strategic interests while doing business with India and there is absolutely nothing unpatriotic about it at all. Major general Moinul Islam's comments prove his narrow views, paucity of knowledge, and lack of understanding about world affairs. Border crossing vs DG's outburst The BDR DG, major general Moinul Islam, attributed the indiscriminate border killings by BSF to illegal border crossings by Bangladeshis at night time, defended Indian actions at the border, and made it clear that he cannot help stop such mindless killings by BSF because of jurisdictional ambiguities meaning all of the killings occur inside the Indian territory and he has no power to exercise his authority beyond the border of Bangladesh. It is obvious that he narrated the Indian version of the border situation and tactfully ignored the fact that most of the time it is the BSF that enters into Bangladesh territory to kill, abduct, and destroy the properties of Bangladeshis residing near the border. Let me quote a statement by one of the Humanitarian organizations in Bangladesh for the readers to know how the Indian border security force trespass into Bangladesh territory to commit grisly crimes against innocent villagers. Human rights watchdog Odhikar said in its survey report, �A humanitarian crisis has been created on the border in the wake of unrelenting intrusion by the BSF troops and Indian hoodlums into Bangladesh territory, who are shooting down or kidnapping innocent civilians and plundering their property.�[13] The same organization reported this year that BSF killed 700 people and injured 800 more between January 1, 2000 and January 31, 2009.[14] Let me also quote from a prestigious Indian news daily to show how BSF intrude into Bangladesh territory to kill innocent villagers at night time: �The BDR officials of Pachagarh 25 Battalion said at least eight to 10 drunken BSF personnel from the Nayabari camp in India entered Maynaguri village near the Majhipara border, at least 500 metres inside Bangladesh, after 10 p.m. on Sunday and ransacked several houses.......When the villagers protested, the intruders entered the house of one Shahidul Islam and fired indiscriminately, leaving three people killed and one injured.�[15] Now as a citizen of Bangladesh I would like to know the reason why our own BDR chief narrated the untrue Indian version in the media, blamed his own people for the extra-judicial killings by BSF, and conveniently escaped his responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of the citizens of Bangladesh. I think he owes an explanation to the nation. Accidental death vs Border killing The primary duty of government is to use its state machinery to improve the living condition of its citizens regardless of their racial and religious background, to provide security, to maintain internal stability, and to promote social harmony through alleviating poverty, deprivation, exploitation, and racism. Being one of the most important state organs, the BDR is entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of the unarmed, innocent people living in the border areas from external state or non-state aggression. But to my utmost disappointment, the BDR DG showing complete disregard to the government's and his own responsibility of protecting the citizens of Bangladesh from external aggression, equated the deaths of Bangladeshis at the hands of the Indian border security forces with the deaths of Bangladeshis in road accidents. I was also dumbfounded by his comments that the government has no responsibility for victims of BSF's atrocities if they have more than two children violating the state's policy of two-child family. This was utter insensitive, irresponsible, uneducated, and outrageous comments from a two star general who happens to be the DG of Bangladesh Rifles. Hypothetically speaking, if we go by his absurd logic, shouldn't we disconnect the three-child families of the armed forces and the politicians from all state privileges that a two-child family enjoys? Geo-politics vs Unknown enemy While I was writing this piece, the BDR DG came up with another gem of information and was magnanimous enough to share it with the jawans and the journalists present at the BDR darbar hall on Aug 18 that under the current global geopolitical situation each country has enemies working against its sovereignty[16], which may I humbly say, contradicts his own previous assertion that in today's world barring economic threats, there exist no geographical threats. Then he talked about some 'unknown enemies' of the country who are there to harm the national interest of Bangladesh, and without naming them he made an oblique reference to forces that were against our independence in 1971 to blame for the carnage at the BDR headquarters. If he had good grasp of the geopolitical interests of Bangladesh then he would not have too much difficulty in figuring out the nation(s) whose geopolitical objectives are contradictory to our own geopolitical interests. Our geopolitical interests are to use geographical advantages to create relationships with other nations on the basis of equality and mutual interdependence, to maintain balance of power, and to promote multilateralism to foster regional and global cooperation among the nations with common interests. Now, any nations that aspire to acquire disproportionately more power than their neighbors to create asymmetry in balance of power, to impose bilateralism in conflict resolution, and to use bilateral treaty agreements in their favor to substantially diminish the other contracting parties' power to exercise their sovereign rights to establish relations with and to seek assistance from third parties to enhance their bargaining power in various regional and global issues should be considered a force inimical to our sovereignty. Now without naming such nation(s) and going deep into this geopolitical mumbo jumbo because it's well beyond the scope of this article, I would like to leave it up to the people of Bangladesh to decide whose geopolitical objectives are contradictory to our national interest. Lastly, I would like to draw people's attention to major general Moinul Islam's contradictory comments on geopolitics in connection with the killings of ordinary Bangladeshi citizens by BSF and the gruesome murders of the army officers at the BDR headquarters by some 'unknown enemies'. Concluding observations Internal stability, economic development, social harmony, and proper functioning of the government are directly dependent upon proactive border security strategies to manage and control human trafficking, illegal arms and drug trading, smuggling, terrorism, and illegal trespassing of foreign troops to loot and plunder the citizens of Bangladesh along the long and porous borders with neighboring states. Laxity in border security, negligence in responsibility, and complacency in border management may have catastrophic consequences for national security and stability. We should take lesson from the history how the mighty Roman empire was brought down to its knees by the barbarian tribes through repeatedly attacking and destabilizing the border. The last thing we want is the BDR DG playing the role of Nero while scores of innocent Bangladeshi citizens are being killed by the border security forces of neighboring states. References 1. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada http://www.international.gc.ca/canadexport/articles/385251.aspx 2. China tops import source for Bangladesh http://english.people.com.cn/200602/20/eng20060220_244154.html 3. United Nations http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml 4. Putin arms threat may steal headlines at G8 summit http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0519220820070605 5. China and Russia counterweigh US influence in Eurasia http://www.thedailystar.net/strategic/2006/07/01/strategic.htm 6. Vladimir Putin threatens Europe over energy supply http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0519220820070605 7. Russia ratchets up US tensions with arms sales to Iran and Venezuela http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4781027.ece 8. Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/world/bangladeshi-insurgents-say-india-is-supporting-them.html 9. The U.S.-China Business Council http://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html 10. ibid 11. China, India trade to hit US$20b this year http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/22/content_739381.htm 12. Govt aware of China developing infrastructure on border http://www.zeenews.com/news551209.html 13. Navy eyes Maldives- Counter to China�s �string of pearls� plan http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090820/jsp/frontpage/story_11385890.jsp 14. BSF�s spree of killing continues, Newagebd, 12, Aug, 2006 ddthhhdhhgffggfgf 15. BSF kills 700, wounds 800 in 9 years http://www.newagebd.com/2009/feb/10/home.html 16. BSF regrets killing of civilians, says BDR http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111956831400.htm 17. Foreign enemies got benefited http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=101882 |
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