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Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was formed to replace army
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
War Within
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini, which was formed and deployed for the protection of general mass turned into a monster to the common people of the country for their activities. It can be called as a war against people.
Deployment
During its first days as it was formed as an auxiliary of Police, it helped police to guard the office. When police failed to control the situation, they were deployed.
At least 44 offices and residents of police were attacked and looted from June to December 1973. So the government deployed Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini within September of the year.[2]
But within a very short time it became so unpopular due to its action.
Specially, Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini draws the attention after the formation of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (Jasad).
JASAD challenged the government’s activities and started to gain huge popularity especially among the students and youths. And many other secret organizations was emerged and gained popularity as the government was failing to solve almost every issue.[5]
JASAD and other leftist secret groups started to create debacle all around the country. This was a headache for the government. So the government deployed Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini to eliminate all the leftist criminals.
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini started massacre just after their deployment.
A Villain
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini turned into a monster within a very short time. Though it was formed as an auxiliary to Police and to protect people, it started misusing its rifles.
According to various statistics, over a thousand people were tortured to death by them.[2]
Anthony Mascarenhas presented a description of the activities of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini in his book “Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood”.[5] He compared the force with Nazis of Hitler.
He wrote, “The Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini, which roughly translated means National Security Force, was a Para-military force whose members had to take oaths of personal loyalty to Mujib. Despite its high-sounding name, it was a sort of private army of bully boys not far removed from Nazi Brown Shirts.[5]”
This force had no code of conduct. They had liability to none but Mujib. So the politically motivated killing increased rapidly.
Mascarenhas said, “By the end of 1973 the total of politically motivated murders in Bangladesh had crossed the 2000 mark. The victims included some members of Parliament and many of the murders were resulted of intra-party conflicts within Awami League.[5]”
Within three years, political killing by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini reached about 30 thousand. Many political leaders along with their families were killed or abducted by this cult.[5]
The youths and students were there common target as JASAD was popular to them and most of the activists of JASAD were youths.
Even the capital Dhaka was not immune to the violence. An unofficial curfew was introduced after midnight. Almost every rickshaw, taxi and private car was checked and searched by Rokkhi Bahini personnel.[5]
The force which emerged to be a hero, turned into a villain.
Nightmare of JASAD
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini had an allergy to JASAD as it was organizing the youths against Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
A notable occurrence occurred on 17th Match of 1975. Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini set up fire the head quarter of JASAD on 14 March 1975. JASAD decided to form a rally towards Home Minister Mansoor Ali’s house and surround it as a counter to that incident on 17 March.[5]
The rally that started from Paltan was forwarding to the Home Minister’s house but the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini opened brush-fire and at least 50 JASAD activists were killed on the spot.[16]
It was an incident at capital. But at the country side and in remote areas the brutality of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini beggar description.
During the regime of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman thousands of youths were killed due to the suspicion of having connection with JASAD by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini.[10]
Among them a leader of Bangladesh Krishok League central committee and a teacher of Nawabganj High School Siddiqur Rahman Khan was killed on 10 October 1972. On 17 September, 1973 JASAD Student’s League leader Bablu, Robi, Ebadat Ali, Motaleb, Kalu and many other were killed in daylight by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini.[10]
General Secretary of City College Students’ Union Jahangir, student of Jahangir Nagar University Shah Borhan Uddin Rokon, student of BUET Nikhil Chandra Saha; Narshingdi JASAD leader Alauddin; JASAD leader from Gazipur Akram, Joinal, Shamsu, Badal, Anwar; Manikganj JASAD leader Shahadat Hossain Badal, Delwar Hossain Haraj, Abdul Awal Naju, Najim; activists from Jamalpur Giasuddin Master; JASAD activist Abdur Rashid, Hasu Miah; leader from Mymensingh Masuduzzaman, Abdul Jabbar; Madaripur JASAD activist Jahngir, Saddam, Ali Hosen, Mofijur; Faridpur’s Kamaluzzaman, Abdul Hakim; Moniddin Ahmed, Salam Master, Rafique Uddin from Razshahi; Ata, Ranju, Manik Das Gupta, Tota, Colonel Rana, Khalil, Rajjak of Bagura; Natore’s JASAD leader Nasiruddin; leader from Pabna Ashfaqur Rahman Kalu are the notable names from the list of the political people, murdered by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini.[10]
Brutality
The history of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini is a history of brutality. The range of the brutality increased day by day. The Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was a source of fear to individuals.
Especially from the last days of 1973, atrocities of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini crossed the limit. They were protected by the top level of the government which made them desperate.
Mascarenhas said, “…the nights were made hideous by the wailing of women whose husbands and sons had been dragged away by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini on Home Minister Mansoor Ali’s orders. These unfortunate people ‘just vanished’.”
In an operation which was operated in Mymensingh, about 1500 teenagers were killed. Most of them were connected to Puba-Bangla Shorbohara Party (East-Bengal Have-nots’ Party) of Siraj Sikder. Others were suspected to have link with Marxists and Leninists. But many of them were not active enough in politics.
Almost all the camps of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini were a mine of corpse. They created massacre in every places they had gone. In Kaliganj of Jessore a mass-grave was discovered after the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini left the place. At least 60 skeletons were found in the grave.[17]
Machine-guns were fixed in front of Tongi Thana by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini facing to the workers’ colony during a protest which killed over hundred workers.[17]
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was also significant for its activity during the last days of 1974 and in the first days of January, while Bangladesh faced a serious famine.
When the famine started, millions of people came to the capital from villages in search of food. The government decided to drive the poor and have-nots out of the capital as it was embarrassed in front of international community with the famine.
On 3 January Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was deployed to ‘Clean Dhaka’ depriving the poor-beggars and destitutes from the city. In this operation about 0.2 million have-nots and slum dwellers were taken away from the capital and were forced either to return to their villages or to be moved to the three camps. The camps were hastily laid out several miles from the city. Condition of the camps was disastrous.
Amongst the three camps, the camp of Demra was the most appalling one, in where Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini gathered about 50 thousand people. Those people were ill-treated and sometimes they felt that death is a better solution.[5]
According to Anthony Mascarenhas, an old man of the camp told visiting journalists, “Either give us food or shoot us.[5]"
Attack on Media
Media, which is called the fifth the pillar of a nation nowadays suffered several, attacks by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini due to publishing news about their illegal activities.
On the 7 September 1972, Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel torched the head-office of newspaper ‘Desh Bangla’. On 11 August the police sealed the office of ‘Desh Bangla’ in Chittagong for publishing news against Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini. They also arrested two journalists and eight workers of the press.
Al Mahmud, a famous poet and the editor of popular newspaper ‘Gonokontho’ was arrested for publishing the news of the attack on JASAD activists while encircling the Home Minister’s residence in Dhaka. At least twelve JASAD activists were killed and about a hundred were wounded as Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel opened fire on that political program. But the government claimed the number of death were only six.
Al Mahmud did not listened to the government and tried to publish the accurate news. When the government came to know that, they sent three trucks full of Police and Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel to seize the office and press of ‘Gonokontho’ at night and arrested the Editor Al Mahmud along with seven workers of the press. Many staff reporter of ‘Gonokontho’ were abducted for their job. The publication of the newspaper was clogged on 20 January 1974. The declaration of ‘Gonokontho’ was cancelled by the government on 27 January 1975.
Government cancelled another popular weekly ‘Holiday’ on 13 May 1975. Enayetullah Khan, the editor of ‘Holiday’ was detained for publishing news against the government and the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini.
Indemnity
An incident on the May of 1974 drew the attention of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. A teenager of just 17 was found to have ‘disappeared’ after four days of torture. The court castigated the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini for ‘operating outside the law’.
This ruling of the court disturbed Mujib and he stripped it of its power to intervene in such cases.
He amended the Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini Act[1] in 1974 just after the court’s ruling. Article-2 of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini Act (Amended) says,
“ 8A. Notwithstanding anything contained in, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898), or in any other law for the time being in force, any officers may, while performing any function under article 8, without warrant-[6][18]
a) Arrest any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed a cognizable fence under any law;
b) Search any person, place, vehicle or vessel, and seize anything found in the possession of such person or in such place, vehicle or vessel in respect of which or any means of which he has reason to believe an offence punishable under any law has been committed.
”
Article 3 of the act says,
“ No suit, prosecution, or other legal proceedings shall be against any member of the Bahini for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this order or rule made there under."[19]
So these are the basic provisions of the infamous Act called the Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini Act (amended),1974.[1]
According to these provisions anybody can be arrested by the Rokkhi Bahini at will mid they would remain immune from any judicial supervision in all their activities in which they would be pleased to indulge in "good faith".[1]
”
This indemnity refrained the Judiciary Division from taking any legal actions. This was a boost to their desperate actions.