Perspectives
Unlike
some of the other major challenges facing South Asia (nuclear proliferation,
inter-state rivalry, internal conflicts), the problem proliferation of small
arms and light weapons until recently received very little attention in the
literature on security, least, on politics. Only very recently, the problem
of the abundant, uncontrollable supply of small arms and light weapons in
conflict-prone areas such as South Asia has raised alarm among the politicians,
world leaders, policy-makers and academicians who are now emphasizing the
urgent need to curb the growing menace of small arms in international security. The
political, economic, social, and security sectors have been contaminated with
the virus of small arms, raising concern as to how to control the spread,
especially due to the clandestine nature of the trade of small arms in South
Asia. Controlling the transfer also becomes difficult once small arms and light
weapons have entered the free-flowing transient supply and demand markets
of the international arms trade. The case of the militarization of Afghanistan
can be best illustrated here. After the Soviet invasion in 1979, the US pipeline
of arms was established in the mid 1980s to aid the Afghan Mujahidin insurgency
campaign, weapons have ever since accumulated in the North Western Frontier
Province of Pakistan, and reached as far as Bombay and the State of Bihar
in India.1 As
the finding of the study revealed, the technology of small arms are being
widely diffused day by day, making its usability easier, weight lighter, and
the cost lower. The main clients of the technologically upgraded varieties
of small arms are usually the military, the police & paramilitary forces
of states that regard the small arms as standard equipment.2However,
because of the light weight, low cost and high tech, the demand for small
arms and light weapons has diffused profoundly into each and every segment
of society. The improved technology has further pushed children into warfare.
In 1988, there were around 200,000 child soldiers under the age of 15 years
fully participating in conflicts all around the world. According to historian
John Kegam, the introduction of small caliber weapons has changed modern warfare.
The most available weapons, the AK-47, an estimated 55 million of which were
sold since its introduction into the Soviet Army in 1947, can be dismantled
and reassembled by a child of 10 years, while a semi-automatic gun may weigh
no more than a new-born baby. As one academician says, “The marriage of technology,
firepower and convenience has facilitated the non discriminatory use of immensely
powerful weapons and has put military hardware into the hand of civilian constituencies.”3 The
impact of the use of small arms in politics can be felt greatly on the law
and order situation of a country. The breakdown of law and order as a result of small arms proliferation
has given rise to gun-related criminal
violence in the developed and underdeveloped countries. But what is more important
is the emerging trend of individuals to keep guns for personal safety. Gun-related
violent crimes in the United States rose by 55% between 1978 and 1992, while
killings by teenagers under the age of 18 rose by 124% between 1986 and 1991.4Although
in most cases such crimes are linked with the drug underworld, at the end
of the day, it is the society that is being affected. Incidentally, accidents
and sometimes crimes by those who keep guns for personal safety as well by
their immediate family members are on the rise.
Findings
of the survey
The
study focused on the proliferation of small arms in South Asia and its impact
on the region’s politics, with particular reference to Bangladesh. The study
made an attempt to reveal the easy availability of small arms in the region.
The spread can be traced back largely to the Afghanistan war in which superpowers
supplied respective parties to the conflict with weaponry, of which small
arms comprised a major portion. Gradually, these arms proliferated to other
conflict areas of South Asia. But the demand for arms did not remain confined
to ins urgencies
and guerrilla warfare, rather it extended to organized criminal gangs, drug lords, and an even newer addition was to
a class of politicians. In fact, these non-state actors are again inter-linked
directly or indirectly. As a result, arms change many hands, and in the long
run, trace of its origin or its destination becomes obscure. In
the case of Bangladesh small arms are increasingly becoming a menace. One
major cause for the spread of small arms in Bangladesh was the insurgency
against the government by the hill people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
But the conflict remained localized and while the problem continued it was
the mainstream politics that was being severely affected by the proliferation
of small arms. Compared to other south Asian countries, Bangladesh is unique
in this regard. In Bangladesh, it is not an individual politician but segments
or fractions within political parties as a whole that give tacit support to
terrorism, political violence, political crime etc. In most cases, the godfather
is an influential person who has close connection with the party leaders. There
are various sources of arms procurement in Bangladesh. The study revealed
the following sources : arms smuggled into the country and sold in black markets;
clandestine floating arms factories; theft from government arsenals; licensed
dealers who take advantage of the privilege to import arms. The study shows
that the compulsions for the users are either political or socio-economic,
or both. The
country’s political system has unofficially justified the use of arms for
political gains. Political parties have their own armed cadres who range from
professional thugs and goons to college-going students. National universities
in all the major cities are held hostage to one or more armed student wings
of the country’s political parties. Open gun-firing followed by casualties,
closure of universities and colleges for indefinite period, occupation of
dormitories, rent-seeking and extortion by student activists and terrorists
are norms and not exceptions. The
impact of the small arms proliferation on Bangladesh politics has been multi-dimensional.
The hartal culture, campus violence, vote rigging, inter and intra-group
armed clashes, decline of law and order, fights for business deals, extortion,
rent-seeking and so on are closely if not inseparably linked with politics. Without
political commitment, which has so far been limited to lip service alone,
the task of controlling proliferation will be difficult, if not impossible.
As the study has shown, the political elite of Bangladesh patronizes political
violence directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, which in turn encourages
the transient supply of arms. Small arms will continue to be an integral part
of Bangladeshi politics unless the demand for them among politicians ceases.
Controlling
Small Arms Proliferation
The
next concern with this regard is related to the control of the spread of small
arms. Christopher Louise suggested two ways of approaching the question of
stemming the proliferation of light weapons and small arms. The first of these
involves policy directives aimed at establishing legislation that would stop
or curb the supply of weapons; the second approach is to look at the causes
of weapons proliferation and consequently on the demand side of the light weapons
equation.5 He has also suggested controlling the import
of ammunition
as another way of controlling the spread. Since ammunitions are not produced
in developing countries, he argues that the supply of ammunition be tied with
conditionalities of aid, where aid is used as a lever to restrain laissez-faire
approaches to ammunition exports.6 Aaron
Karp suggests that the first step to control this trade is to treat small
and light arms with the seriousness they deserve. According to him, violence
around the world is fed not by major arms but by small and light weapons.
In giving an extreme example, he says that Chinese exports of automatic rifles
fuel violence from Somalia to Kashmir to the streets of the United States.7The other problem is that while there are regulations relating to the exports
of small arms, few countries apply them
on the misperception that they are inconsequential. Jasjit
Singh, in his call for the obvious and urgent need for controlling the spread
of small arms believes that focusing only on the weapons-transfers and spread
in an isolated manner is not enough and should be avoided. Rather, an examination
of the ideas and belief systems of the users are necessary. In other words,
he looks for a more political approach rather than a commercial approach to
the issue of small arms and light weapons.8 In
the meanwhile, countries have woken up to the urgent need to control the spread
by taking a few initiatives at the national, regional, and international level
controlling smuggling of illicit products through air, sea and land borders;
cooperating with neighbours on the issue, raising the issue at regional and
international forums such as the United Nations. Arms recovery programmes
are undertaken where not only the police forces search for illegal arms but
also voluntary surrender is encouraged.
At the academic level awareness of the much-too-long-ignored issue has been initiated. The increased role of the
media also needs to be
appreciated. In the age of advanced communication and information, television, journals, newspapers and the internet are playing a constructive
role in highlighting the impact of arms proliferation on societies.
Controlling
Spread of Arms in Bangladesh
The
ill-effects of small arms on politics of Bangladesh was recognized soon after
the independence of Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s call for voluntarily
surrendering arms was to ensure that the arms do not diffuse into society,
and thereby distribute law and order in the country. But the exercise was
incomplete as many of the freedom fighters retained their weapons. In recent
times, successive governments have taken different steps to control the spread
in the following ways: Custom-checking
at border including air and sea ports for contraband items: The import of
arms without license into the country is considered illegal in Bangladesh.
Thus, any attempt to do so, would be regarded as a crime and the concerned
person or persons may be arrested on criminal charges. There are frequent news
of men being caught at the air port and land borders carrying arms illegally. Arms
recovery programmes: Governments have initiated arms recovery programmes, especially
before elections, to ensure that law and order situation prevails including
no vote-rigging in pollingcentres, or any kind of political violence. During
both the past caretaker governments of 1990 and 1996, a deadline was given
to recover arms from persons who illicitly possess them. During those times,
some clandestine arms manufacturing factories were also unearthed by police. Voluntary
surrender scheme: Along with the arms recovery programs, voluntary surrender
of arms is encouraged. In return, money and the promise not to arrest the
volunteer are ensured. This scheme was put in action prior to election and
even though the number of surrendering arms voluntarily was small, yet the
step was a big one. For some, it may be an opportunity to start a new life
without violence. In
spite of applying different methods to stop illicit spread of small arms in
the country, no government has been successful in controlling it significantly.
There are different explanations but the main reason for recovery measures
to fail is the lack of political will and commitment that continue to give
leverage to ‘godfathers’ to keep up their underworld network very much active.
Politicization of administration, political support to student-cum-terrorist,
corruption in enforcement agencies are to name but a few of the obstacle to
a successful halt to arms proliferation. To make arms recovery programs effective,
political commitment is essential. Only if there is determination on the part
of the political parties to isolate arms from politics, can the authority
initiate
effective arms recovery from other sectors. Following are some of the recommended
measures that may be taken into consideration for the government for effective
arms recovery: Law
enforcing agencies must be above politics: The law and order situation existing
in the country needs to be urgently improved. For that, the police administrative
power and the judiciary power have to be above party politics. For that matter,
reforms in the judiciary system, which is in the agenda of the present government
must be undertaken. Both sectors have to be given the authority to deal with
criminals, irrespective of party affiliation or influence. Ban
on politics in educational institutions: There must be a total ban on student
politics. The education system must undergo major reorganization so that an
environment prevails where it is impossible for students to lose valuable
time in politics. Putting the entire blame on the students for polluting the
education centres of the country would not do justice. Teachers are as much
to blame as the students, if not more. Those who are involved in politics
are as ambitious to hold a powerful post in the campus, such as the provost
of a hall. There are enough allegations about teachers inspiring young students
to be part of the game of campus politics.
Employment generation programme:
Economic benefits are a necessity if there is to be a society free of social
crimes committed under political umbrella. A large number of small arms are
used for these purposes. Realistically speaking, for an underdeveloped country
like Bangladesh it will not be possible to remove all social evils. But the
intensity of the problem is so widespread and acute, that no government in
power can turn a blind eye to it. Employment generation should receive maximum
attention of the State. Unless the youth can be rehabilitated into society
with proper jobs and decent living, it will be quite impossible to reduce
crimes. Foreign investment and joint collaboration will definitely create jobs,
and thus different incentives have been given to foreign and local investors.
But, unfortunately most incentives remain confined only to lip service, as
the investors complain about rampant corruption and bureaucratic red tapism.
To worsen the investment climate, the
politics of hartal and non-cooperation has further tarnished the image of the country. Thus,
unless there is more political tolerance among the political parties, it will
be difficult to attract and keep the foreign investors in the country. Mobilization
of public awareness : Constructive role and objective reporting by the media
should be ensured in the order to raise awareness in society of the existing
problem of armed politics. It is alarming how the society has come to accept
arms as part and parcel of Bangladesh politics. Unless the silent majority
wakes up and raise their voices collectively against the crime the trade of
small arms will continue to flourish. In recent years some of the newspapers
are giving objective reporting on issues related to politics and the illicit
arms nexus. For this particular study, for instance, newspapers have been
helpful in terms of reports on crimes. However, there needs to be more analytical
studies showing the close linkage between arms and politics. Most newspapers
hardly cover political crimes and those that do, are biased and often influenced
by one or the other political party. Inventory
and data-base: Finally, there needs to be an elaborate inventory by the Government
on the arms that are entering the country. Till to this day, we do not know
the accurate figure of illegal weapons in the country. An inventory on the
machines that are used for the purpose of manufacturing arms will also be helpful.
Moreover, the inventory needs to be done frequently and systematically in order
to identify a missing object immediately after the loss. One of the findings
of the study was that, theft from government arsenals are common practice in
Bangladesh. Also, the State should create a data base for all information
and reports related to arms. Since the problem of small arms is not only a
local threat to security, rather a transnational one, as the study has shown,
a data base will help create expertise and share information with neighbours
and beyond. Finally,
as the finding of the study shows, arms have become an integral part of South
Asian politics. In Bangladesh, new dimension has been added with the mainstream
political parties maintaining armed cadres to either come to power or to remain
in power. Arms are procured by plitical parties mainly to consolidate their
power base that is empowered with money and influence. The study has clearly
shown that politically motivated violence is on the rise and constitutes a
major portion of the total number of violence caused by arms. Unless a third
force emerges from the silent majority, the media, the academia and the NGOs
to question the nature of governance, quality of leadership, role of the opposition
and so on, Bangladesh politics will continue to bank on force and not reason.
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