PERSECUTION SPREADS INTO ARMED FORCES
Creation of another special force reflects badly on civil-military relations
M. Shahidul Islam
At a time when the third anniversary of the Peelkhana massacre of 2009
is only weeks away, a rumour is afloat about the defence ministry
mulling on whether the incumbent army chief should get an extension or
be replaced by a new one.
AL-led regime now third year in office has precious little to claim as
success stories of governance in general and in building civil
military rapport in particular. While immediately after coming to
power it acted in political overconfidence, if not out of disregard of
the military, mishandling of the BDR mutiny leading to massacre of
army commanders in the organisation.
The Holiday has learnt from a reliable source that 'mistrust and
misunderstanding have clouded civil-military relations in recent
weeks.'
Curious circular
Wild whispers and conjectural anecdotes aside, a recently released
circular by the Home Ministry points to a crisis in the making. The
circular says a 1,112 member strong special security force has been
created to protect the President, the Prime Minister and other VVIPs.
Dubbed as the Security and Protection Battalion (SPB), the elite force
will be comprised of members from the police force only and will be
headed by an Additional Inspector General of Police. Simply put: It
will be a force composed of political loyalists. No wonder the rank
and file within the military find the SPB's creation curious.
The move is politically unjustified and militarily unnecessary. Apart
from the uniformed members of the President's Guard Regiment (PGR),
whose assignment it is to protect the President and the Prime
minister, all the VVIP's now are protected by the elite Special
Security Force (SSF) while members of the Special Branch (SB) of
police as well as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence
(DGFI) provide constant 'shadow protection' to all deserving VIPs.
"If the government believes this multi-layered security is not enough,
one must presume there is something wrong," said a former SSF officer.
Many analysts believe the SPB's creation is indicative of the growing
civil-military mistrust and it reflects badly on the degree of faith
the government is willing to repose on the military to protect senior
dignitaries of the nation. It is presumed that the SPB will be trained
by the elite forces officers of a neighbouring nation.
Moral impact
Insisting on anonymity, a former senior officer of the army said,
"Decisions like the SPB's creation is impacting on the morale of the
forces at a time when they have barely begun to recuperate from the
trauma induced by the 2009 Peelkhana massacre." He termed the SPB's
creation as erroneous and counterproductive like the creation of the
Jatio Rakhi Bahini (JRB) in the early 1970s as a 'counterbalance to
the valiant armed forces' that fought only months ago to liberate the
nation.
According to other sources connected with the military, the AL-led
regime has punished a substantial segment of the officers' cadre for
what the regime's sycophants' term as 'unbecoming behaviour.' Dozens
of officers were arrested, tortured, sacked, victimized, and
psychologically and physically persecuted.
The precise timing of the ongoing civil-military row also seems enigmatic.
It occurs in the run up to the third anniversary of the 2009
Peelkhana massacre that rekindles a grievous sense of anger about the
lack of tangible evidence among members of the armed forces who have
not, as yet, seen any tangible actions against the 'known political
luminaries' who actively facilitated the barbaric massacre of the 57
army officers in February 2009. The idea of a political settlement of
an armed revolt that allowed necessary time for massacre might be
condoned as naiveté. But actual cooperation in creating opportunity
for the mutineers to escape cannot but be regarded as participation in
genocide.
Extrajudicial arrests
Then there are other tell-tale signs to attest to the prevalence of a
dreadful atmosphere that could further compound the existential
economic, political and geopolitical threats facing the nation. For
instance, the latest episode in the military involves the fleeing from
the force of one Major Ziaul Haque of 41st BMA long course, who has
allegedly been kidnapped late last month from Savar bus stand during
his journey to the new unit following completion of a course at the
Dhaka-based Military Institute of Science & Technology (MIST).
A source in the know of the victim officer's family affairs maintains
the officer was in fact kidnapped by an intelligence cabal and
interrogated for two days, until the courageous Major managed to flee
from custody and vanish into the oblivion. His whereabouts are
unknown, and no one from the military is willing to make a statement
about his fate.
Breach of Army Act
The incident created ripples of anger and generated widespread
disaffection within the forces; especially it having followed
similarly mysterious arrest/ kidnapping of three other officers in
July 2011 by the same intelligence cabal, and five Captains and one
Major before that. The victim officers of the July 2011 swoop are Lt.
Col. Zaydee, Lt.Col. Hassin and Lt.Col. Ahsan. The trio are still in
custody, although no formal charges having been framed against them.
Meanwhile, the five arrested Captains and one Major have been sacked
after prolonged torture in custody and sentenced with five years of
imprisonment each; for an alleged crime in which their culpability was
not conclusively proven.
A former military lawyer said the arrests of the Colonels in July
2011, and the Captains and a Major before them, were extrajudicial.
The Army Act provides for convening a court martial to try accused
members of the armed forces within eight days of their arrest, if
charges can be framed. The Colonels, etc, are still languishing in
custody. Nearly 180 days having elapsed since their initial
arrest/kidnapping.
More ominously, the family members of these detained officers are
barred from seeing them and many of the so called 'politically
suspect' officers are allegedly interrogated by officers of a
neighbouring country on matters involving classified national security
agendas. If that is true, may God help Bangladesh.
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