Six pages over Indian COAS visit to Bangladesh where he will attend the BMA passing out parade in which he will be saluted by the new cadets. Many serving army officers are extremely unhappy about this subservient gesture in light of Pilkhana and the continuous killing of our citizens on the border. Many in BD do not think the Indians COAS should be accorded such an honour.
To understand what all this is actually about you would have to read either my book or those by Abu Rushd or Zainal Abedin. The Indians may call it propaganda and conspiracy theories but there is a lot of incontrovertible evidence in these books.
Mate, after googling the subject of this thread, you are the only person to discuss this so deeply
The official story about the Pilkhana tragedy was that it was internal. Some people say that some influential smugglers discredited that BDR, especially after the Chittagong arms haul.
By the way, if I am not mistaken, the Chittagong arms haul was found after an Indian tip-off. Is there any reason for India to mastermind the tragedy in the context of India's security interests in Bangladesh? It seems unlikely.
Who cares what some new cadets think? We should honor the high ranking officer coming from an important country. It would insulting not to do so, and potentially dangerous. There are many longstanding issues between India and Bangladesh. Lets not compromise that on our part.
Now I have no doubt, the people who masterminded the Pilkhana tragedy are still out there. They could be in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world. These men need to be hunted down.
As far as the Indo-Bangladesh border goes, we must equip the newly formed BGB better. If BSF troops do illegally enter Bangladeshi territory, they have every right to shoot. Same applies to smugglers.
'Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, Professor of International Relations, University of Dhaka also emphasises on the threat of 'very influential smugglers' operating on the Indian borders. He says, “BGB has to earn the trust of the nation through their efficiency especially in the border zone.” He says the black market on the borders with India is at least 3.5 billion dollars and the BGB has to compete and launch operations against them. “This is not my own figure, even Indian economists will agree,” he says.'
' “Without the knowledge of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), it is impossible to smuggle in the goods. India has erected a fence for stopping the flow of human beings but not smuggled goods. Many people have been killed on the borders by BSF. But Indian authorities have done little to disrupt smuggling. This shows that they are only interested in stopping the entrance of human beings, but not smuggled goods. So these are some of the challenges that the BGB faces, and through their efficiency in tackling these problems, is BGB going to win the trust of the general populace.” '
' “The BGB has overbearing duties,” he says. “The smugglers are influential in both countries and they are armed.” He says that compared to the BSF and the smugglers, BGB has only rifles, while others have machine guns and other sophisticated equipment. “The smugglers have influence on every level of the administration and the government. Their reach within this country is very wide and they have influential 'friends'. So understandably BGB has a very difficult job when dealing with such challenges.” '
' “Also the BSF has border outposts in 3-4 km of their terrtory, while BGB has their outposts in 6-7km,” says Dr Ahmed. “India is a much stronger power. But while India prides herself for her democracy, the illicit activities on the borders and the killings of civilians on the Bangladesh-India border have gone unreported in their media and Indians are not aware of the activities going on.” He emphasises that against such overwhelming odds, it is going to be a very rough ride for the BGB. “It is not only the responsibility of the BGB, but the nation as a whole that such activities are stopped and the BGB is lent support from the general populace.” '
::: Star Weekend Magazine :::
The solution is simple enough, we need to equip the BGB more. I mean everything, automatic firearms, night vision, helicopters, sensor equipment, vehicles, etc. This should be reflected in the recent defense budget.
They must do their part for security, and no compromise to smugglers. And certainly no space to foreign armed groups.
India would have nothing to 13itch about in the end.
