All troops in the field will return to barracks by June
Photo Collected
During the Awami League period, the members of the defense forces came to the field to assist the civil administration in July 2024, they were in the field throughout the entire period of the interim government. They will now go back to the barracks after two years after the elected government.
It was decided in the core committee meeting regarding law and order that the final withdrawal of army personnel will start from June 6. Outlying districts will be withdrawn first, followed by divisional towns and large districts in a phased manner. All army personnel will be withdrawn from the field by the month of June.
বিজ্ঞাপন
The core committee held its first meeting yesterday after the formation of the BNP government through the 13th National Assembly elections. The committee was reconstituted on April 21 with Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed as the chairman to assess the law and order and internal security situation and determine the necessary course of action.
The meeting held under the chairmanship of the Home Minister was attended by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Director General of BGB and other agencies. In this meeting of about two and a half hours, the final withdrawal of the army from the field, law and order situation of the country, extortion all over the country, change of police uniform were discussed.
বিজ্ঞাপন
When the situation turned violent due to the demand for quota reforms in government jobs, the then Awami League government issued a curfew on July 19, 2024 and deployed the army. After the Awami League was ousted from power on August 5 of that year in a vigorous movement, the army remained in the field as the police force collapsed. The interim government also gave judicial powers to the army on 17 September that year.
Army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said in August 2024 that the army wanted to go back to barracks. Army personnel will return to their posts when the police is reorganized. Then some soldiers were withdrawn from the field from November last year.
However, around the election, the army personnel were in the field like every other time. After the parliamentary elections, the army chief said on February 16 that the army would go back to barracks if the newly elected government takes over.
According to related sources, there are still 17,000 army personnel in the field across the country. The Ministry of Defense had requested the Ministry of Home Affairs at various times to withdraw all the army personnel from the field. It is said that the reason for this is that the members are tired from performing their duties for a long time, they need rest.
In such a context, several sources present in the meeting have confirmed to Prothom Alo that in the meeting of the law and order-related core committee, it was decided to finally remove the army members from the field. Now the Ministry of Home Affairs will officially inform the Ministry of Defense by writing this decision.
According to sources, the journalists who were arrested after the July uprising were also discussed in the meeting. It is decided not to withhold bail for those who do not have serious offences. If a journalist wants to go out of the country, he is instructed not to harass him.
According to the source of the meeting, it was also decided to cancel the licenses of those who got firearms licenses during the Awami League rule. Apart from this, it was decided to give gunmen to the administrators of Dhaka North City Corporation and South City Corporation.
The core committee has decided to intensify the ongoing campaign against drugs. Emphasis is also placed on campaigning and awareness raising in this regard.
The meeting also discussed about extortion all over the country. It was decided to file a case in the name of those involved in extortion. According to sources, it has been discussed that who is involved in the extortion and how many big leaders of which party, will not be seen.
The results of the assembly elections in West Bengal of India were also discussed in the law and order core committee meeting. Due to the shift there, instructions were given to strengthen security in the border areas in the coming days.
The meeting discussed the change of police uniform. According to sources, the IGP of police requested that police pants should not be khaki. However, his request was not taken into consideration. That is, according to the government decision, the police uniform is navy blue shirt and khaki pants.
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