Home View Bangladesh

In addition to traditional defense roles, the military has been called on to provide support to civil authorities for disaster relief and internal security. The Bangladesh Air Force and Navy, with about 7,000 personnel each, perform traditional military missions. A Coast Guard has been formed, under the home ministry, to play a stronger role in the area of anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, and protection of offshore resources. Recognition of economic and fiscal constraints has led to the establishment of several paramilitary and auxiliary forces, including the 40,000-member Bangladesh rifles; the Ansars and village defense parties organization, which claims 64 members in every village in the country; and a 5,000-member specialized police unit known as the armed police. In 2004, a new police unit called the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was constituted with personnel drawn from the military and different law enforcement agencies. RAB is designed to fight hardcore criminal gangs. Bangladesh Ri ... [Read More]

U.S. Department of State -- Post Reports
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Global Connections and Exchanges Project – Worldwide – Youth Programs
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U.S. Department of State FOIA Electronic Reading Room--Post Reports
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Bangladesh

There are approximately 100,000 Ahmadis concentrated in Dhaka and several other locales. In the latter part of 2003, they were the targets of attacks and harassment prompted by clerics and the rhetoric of leaders of the Islami Okkiya Jote, an Islamic party and coalition partner of the ruling BNP. Many mainstream Muslims view Ahmadis as heretics. In October 2003, 17 Ahmadiya families in Kushtia were barricaded in their homes for several days. In November 2003, police stopped a mob of about 5,000 attempting to destroy an Ahmadiya mosque in Tejgaon, Dhaka. In December 2003, anti-Ahmadi activists killed a prominent Ahmadi leader in Jessore; however, there were no results from the subsequent police investigations in any of these cases. On January 8, the Government announced a ban on all Ahmadiya publications; the ban has not been promulgated officially, but in April and May, police entered and seized documents from Ahmadiya mosques (See Section II). ... [Read More]

Bangladesh

In December 2002, Reuters released an article with a quote attributed to the Home Minister that stated the Mymensingh bombing attacks could be the work of Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida network and that the Home Minister had ordered a national security alert. The Home Minister denied making the statement, and Reuters retracted the story. In December 2002, police arrested Reuters stringer Enamul Haque Chowdhury, charged him as the author of the article, and searched the Dhaka Reuters office. He was released from jail early in the year. ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report
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U.S. Department of State -- Post Reports
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Youth Exchanges - Citizen Exchanges - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
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