Arms And The Man Bangla Pdf Download
Hyun Orth
The EU works closely with Bangladesh in the framework of the EU-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement, concluded in 2001. This agreement provides broad scope for cooperation, extending to trade and economic development, human rights, good governance and the environment.
Bangladesh has been a WTO member since 1995 and, as a least developed country, benefits from the EU's 'Everything but Arms' arrangement, which grants duty-free, quota-free access for all exports, except arms and ammunition.
The government was in a fix as the episode snowballed into a major controversy, grabbing media attention across several countries. There was an uproar in India when it became known that the weapons were meant for ULFA and other rebel groups in the country. The issue gained added significance when Chittagong City Mayor and Awami League leader A.B.M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury claimed that the weapons were sent by the U.S. and Pakistan to arm Indian rebels stationed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina demanded an international probe while pointing fingers at a section of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders for their involvement in the incident.
Within a month, the CID was also allowed to probe the incident after investigating officer Ahadur Rahman was relieved of the task for his controversial role in the episode. A report on June 11, 2004 named 43 people in the case filed under the Arms Act. Around three months later, a supplementary charge sheet was submitted by another investigating officer, where one more name was added to the existing list. He also probed the arms smuggling case and submitted the charge sheet in November, accusing 45 people.
Certainly, the police would not have dared to seize the consignment if there was no instruction from the Home Ministry. And yet, several bigwigs were involved in the operation from the outset, including at least two ministers from the government and highly placed officers from the intelligence agencies.
Several theories were doing the rounds among the ULFA functionaries in Dhaka after the confiscation and constitution of the probe. According to the first, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States was tipped off about the arrival of the consignment by its loyalists in the DGFI who were not part of the operation. The CIA grew apprehensive that a major portion of the weapons would be grabbed by the burgeoning fundamentalist outfits in Bangladesh, which would only make the situation in the country similar to that of Afghanistan. Subsequently, the American government pulled strings in the BNP-led government to foil the operation.
These theories notwithstanding, it is difficult to ignore the fact that it was an extremely ham-fisted operation at Chittagong. If the weapons had not been confiscated, at least three more trucks would have been necessary for transporting the consignment from the two trawlers. Arranging for more vehicles would have certainly caused more delay in completion of the operation. And if the crane had not broken, all the four trawlers would have been packed with weapons. This would have necessitated at least 26 trucks at the jetty, which was not anticipated by ULFA. In all probability, the operation would not have remained shielded from the media.
Dhaka emerges as new address for global terrorism
The biggest-ever arms seizure in Bangladesh on April 1-2 has rung alarm bells in India and has given food for thought for the international community. The arms haul also signifies a new emerging address of international terrorism: Bangladesh.
First, the incident. The seized consignment includes modern assault rifles (1790), grenade launchers (2000), rocket launchers (150), grenades (25020), rockets (840) and 1.1 million rounds of ammunition. The quality and quantity of the seized weaponry shows that it was meant for use against security forces. Which country or countries' security forces is a matter of investigation.
The arms were brought through the Arabian Sea route in two fishing trawlers which were unloaded at the government-owned Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited, located in front of Chittagong port in the Karunafuly river. The arms were being taken to Maulvi Bazar in Sylhet division where the camps of Indian insurgents are located. The consignment was seized by chance as one of the drivers of the 10 trucks used in the operation refused to pay to the policemen on duty.
Inputs available with the Government of India claim that these arms were sent by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for various Indian insurgents, including the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), Nepal Maoists and Kashmiri insurgents to create disturbances during the Indian general election and intensify the proxy war.
Salauddin Qader Chowdhury is a Chittagong MP and Adviser (Parliamentary Affairs) to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He is known to have been indulging in anti-India operations for quite some time and his Q C Shipping Lines has been used in the past for bringing arms for Indian insurgents. Haji Sobhan has close links with Salauddin. Two of his ships were docked in Chittagong port on the day of the seizure. In 1996 also he was instrumental in bringing in a huge consignment of arms into Bangladesh which was fortuitously captured near Chittagong port.
The April 1-2, 2004 operation was personally supervised by Sarwar Kamal Maruf, brother of BNP MP Sarwar Jamal Nizam, a close associate of Salauddin. Maruf is reported to have fled to Thailand.
The Indian Foreign Office has also asked Dhaka to keep updating it with progress in the investigations. The Foreign Office is in touch with the Bangladeshi High Commission in New Delhi and Bangladesh Foreign Office in Dhaka.
Though Dhaka has formed a high-level committee headed by the Home Secretary Umar Farooq to probe the April 1-2 arms seizure, not much progress has been made so far. Seven persons, including five labourers who were used in transporting the arms, have been arrested. The main suspect in this case is Hazi Abdul Sobhan, a local BNP leader of Patiya in Chittagong and owner of the two trawlers used for transporting the arms and he happens to be absconding.
A twist in the tale came on April 10 when Awami League leader and Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation, Mohinuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, alleged that the arms consignment was sent by the United States and Pakistan to arm Indian rebels camped in the Chittagong hill tracts. He also alleged that Indian rebels were running at least 50 to 60 camps in the Chittagong hill tracts and claimed that Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Rifles personnel were offering training to these insurgents.
The diplomatic corps in Delhi says one thing with certainty: that the April1-2 arms haul will cast a long shadow over India-Bangladesh relations. The matter would dominate the talks between Border Security Force Director General Ajay Raj Sharma and the chief of the BDR when Mr Sharma travels to Dhaka on May 28.
Bangladesh Ordnance Factories (BOF) is the largest industrial supplier of the Bangladesh Army. Situated in Gazipur, it produces arms, ammunition, and equipment for the Bangladesh Armed Forces.[1]
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