New tactics to debunk Bangladesh’s security forces
On May 21, the German-based media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) published a report titled ‘Human Rights Abusers Go on UN Missions’ aimed at the Bangladesh Army and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). They released this report a day after the US imposed sanctions on former army Chief General Aziz Ahmed and his family. It can be clearly understood from such a situation that Bangladeshi security forces engaged in UN peacekeeping missions are being controlled through a new conspiracy. It can be assumed as a new strategy to exclude the security forces of Bangladesh from the UN peacekeeping mission through this particularly deep conspiracy. Bangladesh Army has a worldwide reputation for its outstanding contribution to UN peacekeeping missions. Controversial journalist Tasneem Khalil’s organization Netra News collaborated in the preparation of the said report. Netra News is one of the organizations run by Bangladeshis that receives US money. This money is given by the country’s National Endowment for Democracy – NED. And this NED is called the modern-day CIA.
DW’s report begins with some videos of the Bangladeshi army and police training for the UN mission. After that, they started to speak objectively. Deutsche Welle claims that they were once members of the RAB by changing the tone of some of the statements. But apart from showing their faces, nothing has been mentioned about their names or identities. Assuming for the sake of argument, they are not shown or identified for security reasons. But the question may arise, is there such a person at all? Or the whole plot of someone’s brain? Considering these, some say that this video can be called fiction or fiction, not a documentary or a documentary at all.
In the documentary Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director of the controversial US human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW), is seen saying, ‘Officers who are accused of human rights abuses should not be sent to UN peacekeeping forces.
At the end of the report, some pictures of the 2009 crackdown on the Tamil rebellion in Sri Lanka were shown, saying that Shavendra Silva, accused of human rights abuses at the time, was suspended from the UN peacekeeping mission due to the country’s army chief. But a situation like Sri Lanka has ever happened in Bangladesh? did not So what is the danger of stopping the sending of Bangladeshi soldiers on peacekeeping missions?
In 1988, Bangladesh’s journey in peacekeeping at the United Nations began with the participation of a group of officers in the Military Observers Group in the Iran-Iraq war. It is going to be 37 years of this brilliant participation. Since then, Bangladesh has been working in the UN Mission with reputation and efficiency. At the United Nations, women’s helmets are now hailed worldwide. Bangladesh has a long history of bravery and sacrifice while performing mission duties. In 2005, 9 Bangladeshi peacekeepers were brutally shot dead in Congo. A total of 166 Bangladeshis have been killed in peacekeeping missions so far.
The peacekeepers of the Bangladesh Army are keeping the status of Bangladesh intact in the world by maintaining the highest professionalism in peacekeeping operations in African countries. As a result of professional attitude, contribution, and sacrifice, Bangladesh has consolidated its position as the top peacekeeping sending country in UN peacekeeping missions. The United Nations has also received recognition at various times for its glorious role. But despite having so many positive aspects, DW and Netra News have been doing conspiratorial acts one after another for what purpose, for whose benefit? Are the steps to close the United Nations mission in Bangladesh with the help of the United States before May 29 Peacekeepers Day?
One thing is clear here, the US is funding Zillur Rahman’s CGS to promote democracy. And Tasneem Khalil’s Netra News is funding legal aid and human rights. And both organizations are knowingly giving money to the reputation and interests of the country. On the other hand, the experts see the DDB report as part of a deep conspiracy based on unverified and weak information. They think that such provocative news is being spread with bad intentions. And for this, DDBU has prepared itself long ago.
It is good to say that the conspiracy of not taking people from Bangladesh in the UN peacekeeping force started long ago. Especially after the failure of all conspiracies centered on the election, they indulged in this kind of political conspiracy. It can be described as a kind of silent policy of the United States.
Such conspiracies have been noticed since the preparations for the 2014 elections. It can be assumed that this can be done by paying money to various international media. From where they get money, they are all NGOs. Almost all of them are managed in foreign currency. In most cases, news is made without any evidence.
According to the DDB report, more than 25 million US dollars have been given to Bangladesh in the last 23 years to work in UN peacekeeping missions. But it is very fair to say that Bangladesh has earned money to work in peacekeeping forces. This is not help or kindness.
On May 15, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu spoke with Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud to discuss bilateral issues. Meenakshi Ganguly of the controversial human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRWBR) said UN peacekeeping missions cannot have officers who are involved in such grave human rights violations. This defeats the purpose of peacekeeping. It may be noted that the HRW also came forward strongly to protect convicted war criminals. Last year the UN did not hesitate to publicly call for increased screening of peacekeepers from Bangladesh, just a day after the war crimes political party Jamaat-e-Islam held for the first time. There are allegations that the lobbyists are influencing various foreign organizations in the propaganda of the BNP. HRWW calls for human rights checks on the recruitment of members of the Bangladesh Army to UN peacekeeping missions. HRWW claims that UN human rights principles have failed to ensure that members of the security forces implicated in abuses of power in Bangladesh cannot participate in peacekeeping missions outside the country. The UN only scrutinizes the human rights issues of high-ranking officials.
In June last year, DDW released another documentary about the RAB and tried to encourage its members to leave the UN mission. Besides, they were seen in a report titled ‘All Prime Minister’s Men’ by Doha-based Al-Jazeera. It published fanciful news about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the army. With the economic development due to the innovative thinking and visionary leadership of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, humanitarian Bangladesh is now in the world court with a new status. His humanitarian diplomacy on the Rohingya issue has also created a new paradigm in the history of Bangladesh’s foreign policy. When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted Bangladesh’s humanitarian culture on the Rohingya issue, the importance of the issue increased in world politics and Bangladesh. In her speech, Sheikh Hasina called for establishing peace and stability, stopping the Russia-Ukraine war, solving the Rohingya problem, dealing with the impact of climate change, and ensuring food and health security.Tasneem Khalil is known as ‘Gossip Guru’ on social media. This editor of Netra News was a consultant of Human Rights Watch in 2006. It is alleged that he is working with the funding of ‘Gujab Cell’ controlled by Shamsul Alam, a corrupt former official of the BNP-Jamaat government who is on the run in the United States. Netra News is one of the organizations run by Bangladeshis that receives US money. This money is given by the country’s National Endowment for Democracy – NED. This NED is called the modern-day CIA. NED operates in different countries to achieve the interests of the United States. For this, they use various local organizations and organizations in exchange for money. Similarly, to pressure Bangladesh, the law enforcement forces are trying to incite controversy about various institutions including the financial sector. As part of this conspiracy, they are active in smearing the glorious contribution of the army to the UN peacekeeping mission.
Writer: Dr. Sultan Mahmud, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Email: smahmud@ru.ac.bd
Whatsapp: 88 01717736464
