{"id":121983,"date":"2022-01-09T18:10:43","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T01:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121983"},"modified":"2022-01-09T18:10:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T01:10:43","slug":"role-of-bangladeshs-rab-in-maintaining-peace-harmony-law-and-counter-terrorism-in-bangladesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/09\/role-of-bangladeshs-rab-in-maintaining-peace-harmony-law-and-counter-terrorism-in-bangladesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Role of Bangladesh\u2019s RAB In Maintaining Peace, Harmony, Law, and Counter-terrorism In Bangladesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jubeda Chowdhury from Dhaka, Bangladesh<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Bangladesh is a developing country. Its economy is booming\nday by day. The pattern of crime is changing. Technological advancement has\nalso changed the tendency of crime. One of the major obstacles to Bangladesh\u2019s\nprogress is the volatile law and order situation. In such a situation when\nevery member of the society was suffering from uncertainty, the government\nplanned to form an elite force to make the activities of the police force more\ndynamic and effective. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has started its journey\non March 26, 2004, by participating in the National Independence Day Parade. On\n21st June 2004, RAB forces started full operational activities. Soon after\nbirth, it has started to maintain peace, harmony in society. Since its\ninception, RAB has been working at the risk of its life. The RAB has been fighting terrorism and terrorists and has\nbrought those involved in drug trafficking under the law. Which is one of the\ngoals of the US administration. The United States also aims to curb illegal\nhuman trafficking and criminal activity. In fact, RAB is implementing the US\npolicy in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the verdict in the seven murder cases in Narayanganj\non January 19, 2017, the United States commented that the government of\nBangladesh should abolish ‘RAB\u2019. They called the RAB an “in-house death\nsquad” and criticized the government’s role in its involvement in\nextrajudicial killings, torture, and disappearances. However, 25 members of\nthis force have been convicted for seven murders in Narayanganj. Of them, 16\nhave been sentenced to death and nine members have been sentenced to various\nterms of imprisonment. As a result, there was a tendency to underestimate the\nvarious achievements of the RAB achieved in the last 12 years. But the success\nof this organization is more than just a measure of failure. That is why RAB is\nan important organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAB\u2019s role in suppressing traditional crimes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from suppressing militants and terrorists, Elite Force\nRAB is also playing a special role in suppressing traditional crimes. The\norganization has cracked down on members of the terrorist forces in different\nparts of the capital. They still maintain that continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to various media reports, RAB has so far arrested\nmore than 1,200 criminals and rescued more than 1,000 victims in a crackdown on\nhuman trafficking. More than 16,000 firearms and more than 2.5 million rounds\nof ammunition were seized from the area-based terrorists and arms dealers.\nAbout 13,000 armed terrorists have been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 500 Sundarbans-centric pirates and bandits have\nbeen arrested in the southern part of the country and about 2,000 firearms have\nbeen recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A top RAB official said that besides special operations, RAB\nhas been conducting regular operations to unravel the mystery of clue-less\nmurder and catch the fugitive accused. Apart from this, the mobile court of RAB\nhas collected more than two and a half billion rupees in fines of Tk.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Role in Anti-Narcotics drive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the information of various law enforcement\nagencies, drugs are behind many crimes including theft, robbery, smuggling, and\nuse of illegal weapons all over the country including the capital Dhaka. For this\nreason, RAB has been working in the light of a zero-tolerance policy against\ndrugs since its inception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 3, 2016, on the occasion of the 14th founding\nanniversary of RAB, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed to intensify zero\ntolerance for drug eradication. Following this, RAB launched a massive campaign\nacross the country with the slogan ‘Let’s go to war, against drugs’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to RAB statistics, they have arrested about 55,000\ndrug dealers since May 3, 2016. About 1.5 lakh drug dealers have been arrested\nsince its inception. Seized drugs worth three thousand crore rupees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has recovered more than six and a half crore\nyaba tablets since its inception. In addition, about 800 kg of heroin and more\nthan 3.8 million phencidyl were seized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAB officials say that Yaba is now the most used drug in\nBangladesh. They are coming to the country by sea from Myanmar. In addition,\nyaba is constantly entering through the deep areas of the hilly region. RAB is\nworking closely with various law enforcement agencies to close the routes of\nYaba entry. At the same time, regular operations are being carried out by\nlisting Yaba traders in and around Cox’s Bazar. The militant attack on the\nHoley Artisan Bakery (Spanish restaurant) in Gulshan, an elite area of \u200b\u200bthe\ncapital, has brought Bangladesh to the forefront of global discussions. Twenty\npeople, including 17 foreigners, were hacked and shot dead in the attack. Among\nthe dead were nine Italians, six Japanese, and one Indian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that hellish attack, the government sat motionlessly.\nPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina sat in meetings with the chiefs of all the forces\nof the country from time to time. Discussions are going on about how to free\nthe country from the curse of militancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lengthy discussions and consultations, Prime Minister\nSheikh Hasina announced the policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ against militancy and\nextremism. After the Prime Minister’s announcement, the law enforcement forces\ntook to the field to fight militancy and extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been seen playing the\nmost effective role in the campaign against militancy since the Holy Artisan\nattack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to RAB sources, the organization has conducted 241\nanti-militant operations since the Holy Artisan attack. In these operations,\nRAB has arrested a total of 809 militants. Twenty-five militants were killed in\nthe gun battle. In addition, 7 militants have so far surrendered to the RAB,\nwhich is rare in the history of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also learned that since the Holey Artisan attack,\nthere has been one anti-militancy cell in each battalion of RAB. All the\nactivities of the militants are monitored through that cell. RAB also has an\nanti-militancy app to raise awareness about militancy and extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAB’s anti-militant campaign:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to various media reports, On July 17, 2016, RAB\nraided a militant hideout in Ashulia, Savar. The RAB forced four militants to\nsurrender during the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 6, 2016, RAB conducted an operation in the\nDarussalam area of \u200b\u200bthe capital Mirpur on suspicion of being a militant\nhideout. At one stage of the operation, the militants in the dormitory\nexploded. The blast killed six people, including militant Abdullah and his\nassociates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 29 in 2019, RAB raided a house suspected to be a\nmilitant hideout in Mohammadpur Basila of the capital. Two militants were\nkilled on the spot in the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAB raided a suspected militant hideout in the Sonapahar\narea of \u200b\u200bJorarganj in Mirsarai Upazila of Chittagong. Two militants were\nkilled in the blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the RAB’s campaign against militancy, RAB Director\nGeneral (DG) Benazir Ahmed said, “Not only the campaign, but we are also\nconstantly carrying out various activities with the militants. So far, eight\nmilitants have surrendered. But we have shown the way that the militants can\nalso surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are trying to prevent the militants from trying to\nincite people to extremism by misinterpreting the Holy Qur’an and its verses,\nbut we are trying to convey the correct interpretation of various verses of the\nHoly Qur’an to the people,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to the people of Bangladesh as peace-loving,\nBenazir Ahmed said, “People of our country do not like bloody bloodshed.\nMilitancy will never be able to rise fully in our country. Because the people\nof our country do not like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the media reports, A 9,000-member RAB force is\nworking to protect human rights. Former RAB intelligence chief Lt. to protect\nhuman rights. 27 RAB members including Colonel Azad were martyred. More than a thousand\nmembers have been maimed in maintaining law and order and protecting human\nrights. At different times, more than two thousand members were injured while\ntrying to maintain law and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RAB has been established in the light of some mandates\nas a lit force. RAB has been established to suppress militancy, drugs, and\nterrorism. Today, due to the success of RAB’s campaign, militancy and terrorism\nhave come down to zero in the whole country including the North or the South.\nThe Sundarbans has been freed from piracy due to the RAB’s campaign. We have\ncelebrated the third anniversary of the Sundarbans free of pirates this time.\nNo other country in the world has been free of such pirates?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

327 members of the 32 bandits had surrendered in the Sundarbans.\nRAB has also played a humanitarian role in their rehabilitation. In addition to\ngovernment grants, RAB has provided houses and cows, and goats to bring them\nback to normal life. The pirates of Banshkhali have also been brought back to\nnormal life. RAB was working to bring the surrendered militants back to\nnormalcy. In very few countries in the world, law enforcement agencies like RAB\nhave shown humanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the contribution of ‘RAB’ in the socio-economic\ndevelopment of the country and in maintaining law and order in times of crisis\nis undeniable. Because the unstable law and order situation is one of the\nobstacles to our progress. This includes maintaining law and order, recovering\nillegal weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other such harmful substances,\narresting armed terrorists, assisting other law enforcement agencies in\nmaintaining law and order, providing intelligence on any crime and criminals,\naccording to government orders. RAB is always engaged in performing other\ngovernment duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, RAB has received many accolades, including the\nFreedom Award for its bravery, heroic role, and public service in maintaining\nlaw and order. RAB officials have received various medals. Bangladesh today is\non the highway of development. Therefore, the biggest need is to maintain the\noverall law and order situation in the country. Thus, we can say that RAB has\nbeen playing a significant role in maintaining peace law, harmony in our\nsociety in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jubeda Chowdhury from Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh is a developing country. Its economy is booming day by day. The pattern of crime is changing. Technological advancement has also changed the tendency of crime. One of the major obstacles to Bangladesh\u2019s progress is the volatile law and order situation. In such a situation when every member of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}