That a new terrorist outfit has apparently found footing in somewhere in Bandarban -- CHT who are engaged in motivating and training young men from across the country -- is surely a matter of surprise.
Some time ago there were stories coming in from different parts of the country about young men going missing, some of these young men were reported to have fled to such remote corners of the hills. What was more surprising is that they had reportedly joined hands with another dissident group.
We are not told much about their purpose and ideological moorings, but I am sure the forces involved in the operation will dig further and allow no respite to these groups. It is alarming that such divergent groups are meeting in the wilderness to train and organize. It bears mentioning that such dealings often transcend known religions and even ideological and cultural boundaries.
Unrest in this part of the country has been an issue for almost two decades after things seemingly changed for the better following the signing of the peace agreement in 1997. Before that our military had to struggle a lot in dealing with the insurgents, thus leading to a congenial environment for their upper echelons to give a nod for the arms surrender and signing the agreement.
Bangladesh has, to its credit, been fighting and winning a successful counter-insurgency which is not very common. This was because of concerted military-politico efforts wherein we were fortunate to have been guided in the right path by our political decision makers.
The physical features of CHT, the geopolitical standing of this chunk of our territory, and its proximity to the troubled periphery of neighbouring countries always make it a lucrative site for any such clandestine activity.
After signing of the Peace Accord, it was urged upon that military activity will be scaled down and the army will be pulled out to selected garrisons only. Since then, some reduction in the number of camps have taken place.
The attitude and the modus operandi of the forces is understood to have undergone some transformation. The seriousness of the army in carrying out extensive operations in the area in absence of any defined threat is believed to have lost its focus.
In such developments it is quite likely that dissident elements, terrorist groups, or simply armed troublemakers will make good use of such lax attitudes. The secessionist movement ran out of steam and relative peace had returned. Though occasional disturbance and sporadic instances of kidnappings, killings, etc continued, but to a much lower scale compared to organized activities such as raids and ambushes against military targets.
If the army has to be pulled out and we have to reduce military activity, the vacuum has to be filled in by effective policing. This is a difficult job compared to any part of Bangladesh. Police forces taking effective control of such terrain will need special training and skill on their part to survive and bring in a complete transformation in their mental and psychological orientation.
To the best of my knowledge, this has not taken place.
The way the operation was undertaken and publicised needs to be analysed in view of the outcome that followed. The area was made out-of-bounds for tourists, normal activity was disrupted in the last half of October this year. There was an understanding that something big was coming up.
Ultimately, we saw in the media some people being hauled up with some locally made armaments. It was interesting to see people seemingly having no connection with each other -- as far as race, religion, or ethnicity are concerned -- ended up working closely with each other to pursue uncommon goals.
There is no shortcut to physical domination of such terrain. The army has to be employed in keeping the area under control via regular patrolling. This will deny access to any such group in the future. This is also in conformity with the state policy. No force is expected to operate effectively unless they have a good orientation with the terrain and its inhabitants.
Such areas could be used for training of individuals in handling explosives, as shelters for dissident elements, physical training etc. But one thing is very important, these sorts of activities cannot thrive without external support.
Even in the post Peace Accord era, military vigilance cannot be compromised to let such nuisances grow and thrive. We have not trained and equipped any other force to take over such an arduous job, one which demands a lot of hard work and an inordinate amount of physical and mental strain.
Brig Gen Qazi Abidus Samad, ndc, psc (Retd) is a freelance contributor.
