Myanmar on last Thursday deployed a huge contingent of its army with heavy weapons along the Tombru border shared with Bangladesh - creating panic among the Rohingyas on the adjacent no-man's land. This is a sheer act of military provocation which clearly threatens the refugee repatriation process. However, in the wake of such menacing developments what is our army doing?
The point, this writer intends to make is that compare to the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) the Bangladesh Army is smaller in size with lesser quantity of lethal weapons, but not anyhow inferior on any count. Moreover, mobilising troops near the border do not necessarily mean to actively engage in war but means - send your opponent a clear signal that you are ready to repeal potential military threats.
The point here, since Myanmar is indiscriminately moving its forces towards the furthest south-western points of Rakhaine and nearby border areas, so why can't we do the same? Is it the political leadership which is preventing the armed forces from doing so or is the military leadership deliberately maintaining a distance from getting engaged?
In response to Myanmar's troop's deployment near the border, the BGB is reported to have 'reinforced its positions'. The foreign office also protested the move, and had summoned the Myanmar envoy in Dhaka. The question that involuntarily arises, wasn't it possible to move some of the army units along with their weapons near the border? Is it that risky to fly some of our imported russian jets near the border area in response to Myanmar's repeated violation of airspace in the recent past?
A Popular English daily of the country ran a news report in the wake of the recent military deployment by Myanmar under the title "Pull back right now" the dissent would have sounded many thousand times much stronger had our military units appropriately take positions in response to Myanmar's unnecessary display of military strength.
Whatever, we came to know, that our armed forces are currently going through a long term modernization plan called "Forces Goal 2030". It is going under a massive expansion and modernization drive as per the plan. The force is being divided into three corps - Central, Eastern and Western. Three new infantry divisions have been raised, the 17th infantry division at Sylhet, 10th infantry division at Ramu in Cox's Bazar. Moreover, most of the soldiers are being equipped with modern gear. That's not all - $3billion plus budget has been allotted for modernising the armed forces for the fiscal years 2017-18. The million dollar question - are we modernising it for the sake of modernisation only or are we doing it - so to guarantee protection of our independence and geographical sovereignty?
It has been many times echoed in the international media that Bangladesh Army has specialised its peacekeeping operation capabilities around the world by participating in numerous peacekeeping and nation building operations. But given Myanmar's repeated face-offs in the border, it's time for the army to make a quick move - give a ray of hope to the people that they aren't sitting at home idle either.
Our combined armed forces (army, navy and air) are not mere tools for deploying abroad for Peacekeeping Operations, holding joint exercises with other countries, be involved in nation building and contribute in tackling natural disasters. They should also make their presence felt in the region, and especially when a neighbouring country keeps violating border rules and poses a security threat to us.
During the time of writing our BGB and Myanmar's BGP was reported to have sat for talks by holding a flag-meeting, but in actuality the depth of the crisis goes even deeper since it was a premeditated decision by the Tatmadaw to deploy troops and the Myanmar BGP has practically nothing to explain in this regard. It's only the Myanmar government's military high-ups who can only explain.
Since the military crackdown in Rakhaine in last August, we now feel it's time to engage our defence establishment in a positive manner to respond to Myanmar's increasing face-offs.
Last but not least, it's not always practical to justify inertia or hesitancy in the name of 'maintaining peace'. Sometime it's necessary to stand-up and get prepared - not for starting a war but to ensure its chances are minimised, make your opponent think twice before he attacks you. Most importantly, send visible signals to inform your opponent that you are keeping an eye on his movements.
The writer is Assistant Editor,
The Daily Observer
