BDR Mutiny: Security implications for Bangladesh and the region

Introduction:
As the 36-hour long bloody mutiny by a number of the Bangladesh Rifles (paramilitary force
in the country) personnel, who happened to be known as the ‘ever-vigilant sentinels of the
border’, at its headquarters in Dhaka drew to a conclusion, along it took the lives of 56
officers, with 7 missing and a number of by-stander casualty. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)
jawans (soldiers), who are entrusted with the duty to safeguard the border of the country,staged a mutiny on the 25 February 2009, the second day
of the yearly occasion "BDR Week" which was earlier (24
February 2009) inaugurated by the Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina. More than a thousand BDR soldiers mutinied, took
over the BDR headquarters, sprayed bullets in the Darbar
(BDR’s yearly gathering/ meeting) to kill senior BDR
officers (who are on deputation from Bangladesh Army)
and held their families as hostage. By the second day (26
February 2009) the so called “Rebellion” spread over to 12
other towns and cities across the country. Though the
mutiny crumbled on 26 February (2009) in the face of a
fear of using military force, it cost the lives of innocent
military officers including BDR Director General, Major General Shakil Ahmed, and his
wife, invoked lament among the families of the victims and left the country in a disarray.
BDR, one of the oldest of its kind institution in this entire region, has a history of 213 years.
The BDR jawans play a very significant role in defending the long Bangladesh border line of
4,427 km. This force is also responsible to curb smuggling in the border region and to assume
the role of 1st line defence in the event of war. But the mutiny that broke out on last 25
February destroyed the fabric and core of this two hundred year old institution. As the whole
episode is increasingly getting public, a close observer of the event can very easily grasp that
the entire episode was a pre-planned elimination of the complete command structure of BDR
to destabilize the security environment of the country. The BDR mutiny has several security
and strategic implications for Bangladesh and, to some extent, the region.
Organizational collapse:
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) is a major actor within the state security architecture of Bangladesh
with 67,000 soldiers stationed across the country. The 25 February mutiny, in the fashion of
decapitation, has resulted into the elimination of the top ranked officers of BDR. It is a major
blow to the security structure of the state. It leaves a dent in a major security apparatus, BDR,
which contributes immensely to the total size of country’s security forces. Since BDR suffer
a collapse, which will require a while to repair, it may also compromise the Trans-boundarysecurity of Bangladesh and its neighbours.