There
is very little accuracy in the data on the quantum of small
arms in Bangladesh. According to the former Home Minister Abdul
Matin Choudhury, the number of illegal weapons in Bangladesh
is a little more than one hundred thousand, yet, not even one
percent of the arms has been recovered, and those that were,
were usually ones that were old and rusted. Heavy and modern
weapons were rarely recovered.1However, three years before the Minister’s
statement, in 1993 former Inspector General of Police said,
that at that time illegal guns were in the possession of one
million people.2 One study showed that around 100,000–133,000 arms are
in illegal possession and two million criminals have access
to those arms, giving a circulation ratio of 1:15. In Dhaka
alone there are allegedly 15 to 20 thousand arms. In thischapter,
an attempt will be made to show the source and types of arms
proliferation in Bangladesh. In this connection, newspapers
for a two-year period (July 94 - June 96) were monitored in
order to find more information on the spread of small arms in
Bangladesh, the types of weapons and the routes fromwhich they
enter the country. Sources
of Arms Procurement
Legacies of the Liberation
War The source of arms
flow into Bangladesh can be traced back to the Liberation War
of 1971. During that time, there were internal andexternal sources
of arms supply. The Cold War was at its height and although
the separation of Pakistan was an internal affair, it received
regional and international attention. There were those countries
who supported the separation, and those who opposed it. Accordingly,
arms flowed in. Very little is known on the subject of arms
proliferation of period, but it can be largely assumed that
military assistance were given by interested blocs to both,
Pakistan government to suppress the movement, and also to the
freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan in 1971 to liberate
Bangladesh, known as the Mukti Bahini, to carry it on.
In fact, during the liberation struggle, not only did the freedom
fighters have resource to arms but even pro Pakistan armed volunteers
(known as the razakars) were raised and given arms by
the regime to counter the freedom fighters.3
After the victory i.e.’ in
the immediate post-independence months, one of the greatest
challenge for the then Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s
Awami League government came from the thousands of armed freedom
fighters who belonged to different factions including supporters
of the Awami League. Despite Mujib’s repeated pleas, a largenumber of the freedom fighters did not surrender their arms.
As a result, armed factional fights became rampant and seriously taxed the
new government’s limited coercive capability.4The various factions of the Mukti Bahini
numberd between 100,000–200,000 armed men,5thelargest
and most powerful single faction was that of Kader Siddiqui.6On
January 17, Sheikh Mujib called for the surrender of arms
within ten
days of time and reiterated that power does not come from
the barrel of the gun bur rather stems from the people.7However,
only 50,000 arms were surrendered.8 Thus, of the many sources of illicit weapons proliferating
in Bangladesh, a noticeable chunk came from those who had
not returned the weapons in the post-independence years, even
after repeated announcements by the then
Awami League government to do so.
External
Source
External
source of arms procurement has played a significant role in
the illicit proliferation of small arms among non-state actors
in Bangladesh. The external sources are mainly of three types:
(a) aforeign government that gives arms to friendly insurgents,
(b) International arms dealers (c) Individuals/insurgents
who sympathize withinsurgents of another country. One glaring
example of external aid to non-state actors in Bangladesh
is the case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), where the
Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the politicalplatform
of the hill people demanding autonomy, were able to sustain
their fight for autonomy because of their continuous supply
of arms from neighbouring India. Aside from insurgents, other
non-stateactors, including political and non-political persons
or groups receive supplies of sophisticated weapons from external
sources that may come from as far away as Europe and America.
A survey of 100 people from different backgrounds were taken.
Asked about the source of the major bulk of small arms, 50%
opined that arms come from neighbouringcountries.
Illicit
arms procurement through smuggling
Smuggling of arms into Bangladesh
is a major source of illicitproliferation of arms. The transit
points are the land borders, sea-port and sometimes the airports.
Bangladesh has a long sea belt to the south and three sides
of its land border is surrounded by India. As it happens,
border check-points are slack, intentionally or unintentionally.
There is a supposedly unwritten agreement of trade between
Bangladesh and Indian businessmen. Arms flow in from India
while mostly Japanese and Koreanelectronic goods are sent
from Bangladesh for India. There are allegations that some
customs officers, border security forces, and police forces
are involved in such illegal activities.9There
is guestimation that almost one third of the arms in Bangladesh
come from outside the country. The former Home Minister said
in the Parliament that 423 smuggled illegal arms had been
recovered by the police in 1994 of which many came from India.10Arms
are smuggled in from Myanmar and Pakistan as well.
Local
arms: home-made, factory-made
In recent years, more and
more arms and explosives are being made locally. There are
1000 illegal arms factories in Bangladesh which are running
with foreign spare parts, foreign catalogue, etc. According
to the police, they have recovered 11,000 arms, 500 spareparts
for making arms and 5,000 rounds of bullets in the last seven
years.11There are around 500 illegal factories in
the capital and all are floating i.e. easily transportable
or movable.12To make a local two-bore pistol, the
cost is maximum 5000 Taka13(Bangladesh
currency). However, the resale value, depending on the place
and time, can go up to 25,000 Taka.According to the survey
made by the researcher, 35% of the respondents said these
arms were locally made. Monitoring of the localnewspapers
revealed that most of the arms factories that were unearthed
were located in greater Jessore, Kushtia, Comilla, Maheshkhali,
Chadpur, Cox’s Bazaar, Bogura, Feni and in some of the areas
in Dhaka including Mirpur, Pallabi and Gulshan. These factories
are actually mobile meaning that the machinery set up in abandoned
houses or even rented houses can be dismantled once the mission
is over or at the knowledge of a possible police raid.
Seized/stolen
from police station
In Bangladesh, small arms
are frequently stolen from policestations or from warehouses
of the armed forces. For example, in one incident, seven rifles and 65 round
of bullets were stolen from the police station in Khulna on August 11, 1996. Nine
days later, the terrorists left them behind in the paddy fields
of Paikgacha, Khulna.14There wasanother report stating that, sometime
during 1989 to 1991, 1,27,154 bullets of rifles were from
the arms warehouse of the ChittagongMetropolitan Police while
in another incident six SLR and 11,000bullets were stolen
from the storage of the district police from 1989-93, and
later sold in the blackmarket.1512%
of the respondents of thesurvey for this study said that the
police was the major source of arms procurement.
The Black Market
The black market is a major source for arms procurement in
Bangladesh. Available arms range from highly sophisticated
foreign arms to locally produced inexpensive ones.
There are a few well-known areas in the country where one can purchase directly
or from an agent. Prices of small arms in the black markets
in Bangladesh Taka are as follows: ‘Saddam pistols’: 40,000-50,000;
Italian 9 mm bore pistols: 50,000-80,000; 22 mm bore pistols:
30,000; 7.65 mm bore pistols: 60,000; Chinese rifle: 80,000;
British 303 cut rifle:25,000. Licensed
arms dealers Licensed
arms dealers also contribute to the proliferation of small
arms in Bangladesh. Although it is the government that issues
licenses, due to rampant corruption in the country, influence
and money canpurchase licenses to import arms that are often
sold in the black market. According to the then Leader of
the Opposition Sheikh Hasina, (incumbent Prime Minister) 10,000
licensed arms are missing in Bangladesh.16 Most
of the shooting clubs in Bangladesh import guns and bullets
with the permission of the government. However, a large portion
of these arms is sold to agents that often have links with
armed terrorists. The State also gives permission to the private
sector to import arms through the state owned organization
known a Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). However,
the system is also misused and many of such weapons also end
up in the black market. Route
of Illicit Arms Proliferation
As mentioned earlier, air, land and sea routes are used for
the proliferation of small arms in Bangladesh. It is also
alleged that international smuggling groups use the India-Bangladesh
route extensively for the business. The most frequently used
land borders by the underworldnetwork of smugglers are the
country’s south-west borders of Shatkhira, Bhadiali, Madra,
Keragachi, Hijoldi, Borali; Jessor’s Shikarpur, Mashila, Jenidah,
Mahehpur; Chuadanga (Jibonnagar) Meherpur (Ganguni) Kushtia
(Daulutpur).18
The
international airport in Dhaka is emerging as an oft-used
route for smugglers to bring arms and ammunitions into the
country. There are allegations that smugglers collaborate
with corrupt custom officers of the Dhaka Airport. Among other
contraband items, they manage to bring in innumerable illicit
weapons. Among the sea ports, consignments of illicit arms
are occasionally seized at the Chittagong and Khulna ports.
Not always are they meant for the local market. In fact, it
is well known that the Chittagong port is used as a major
transit point to ship illegal arms from one place to another.
It
was not long before when the tools for criminal activities
or other purposes were limited to indigenous weapons such
as the dagger, and an air gun. Today, the varieties of arms
available in Bangladesh are astounding. Although compared
to other South Asian countries, the volume of sophisticated
light weapons available in Bangladesh is still low, it will
not take long before Bangladesh becomes a potential market
for high-tech light weapons, as its air, sea and land routes
are increasingly being used for such transshipment. Newspaper
reports reveal the following types of arms found in Bangladesh:
US-made revolvers and pipeguns, German made revolver, Chinese
sub-machine gun, Belgium made shutter gun, air gun, foreign
made hand gun, home made pipe gun, pistol, revolver, Pakistani
made revolver, rifle, cut-gun, SLR, two bore gun, cut rifle,
one bore gun single barrel gun. Indian made gun, Induan made
shutter gun, two-bore rifle, shutter gun, 303 rifle, 7.62
SLR, automatic revolver, French revolver, locally made shutter
gun, Italian made pistol, SSG, stengun, 22 bore pistol, 32
bore pistol,imported SBBL gun.
Who Uses Small Arms and Why?
In
order to seek an answer to the above question, the writer
carried out anopinion poll. 62% of the respondents said that
professional criminals and gangsters were the major users
of small arms, 24% said they were students, 22% accused ex-students,
while 22% said that youth who are drug-addicts and delinquent
resort to arms. The users can be broadly divided into two
groups - the ‘criminal’ and ‘terrorist’, whether acting on
his own or belonging to a particular gang or an armed cadre
that enjoys political patronage. There is, however, another
kind of users who use arms to local enemies. This can be observed
in towns and villages where the cause of conflicts are related
to land ownership and family feuds. When citing possible reasons
for resorting to arms: 64% believed, free flow of money is
the main incentive for procuring arms. A second reason according
to them is adventurism. However, all respondents opined that
the root cause for resorting to arms were political instability
and socio-economic backwardness. Field studies show that in
Bangladesh from July 1994 to June 1995, the highest number
of incidents of armed conflicts took place in Dhaka (239)
followed by Khulna (129). In one year, the figure rose to
422 and 156 respectively. The rise of armed violence rose
significantly in Chittagong division from 1994/95 to 1995/96
where the number ofreported violence increased from 58 to
116. Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country with one
of the world’s lowest per capita income. A large section of
the youth are unemployed while majority are under-employed,
giving their frustration enoughjustification to be lured into
crime. While the socio-economic compulsions are understandable,
the political linkages are becoming a matter of growing concern.
Details of the linkage between politics and theproliferation
of small arms and its impact on Bangladesh politics will be
discussed at some length in the next chapter.
Division-wise Incidents
of Reported
Armed Violence in Bangladesh
DivisionJuly ‘94 June ‘95July
‘95-June ‘96Increase
Dhaka239422193
Khulna12915627
Chittagong5811658
Rajshahi436623
Sylhet28335
Barisal11512510
Source : The Inquilab (a
vernacular Bangladeshi daily newspaper). 1.The
Daily Inquilab, 15 January 1996. 2.Dainik
Janata, 31 July, 1993. 3.Rounaq Jahan, Bangladesh
Politics: Problems and Issues, University Press Limited
1987, p.58. 4.Ibid., p.62-63. 5.Ibid.,
p.66. 6.Ibid., p.58. Kader Siddiqui of Taingail
district was the head of the Kader Bahini, a faction
of freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan in 1971. 7.Cited
in Jahan, p.68. 8.Ibid, p.58. 9.Bhorer
Kagoj, 8 March 1994. 10.The Bangladesh Observer,
11 September 1995. 11.Cited in BIISS journal
from a paper presented at the Pugwash Conference,organized
by British American Security Information Council, 1995. 12.Bhorer
Kagoj, October 7, 1996. 13.Bhorer Kagoj,
8 March 1994. 14.Robbar, 1 September 1996.
15.Janakanta, 9 August 1996. 16.Shangbad,
25 October 1995. 17.Janakanta, 9 August
1996. 18.The Inquilab, 14 September 1995.
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