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STRATEGICALLY SPEAKING

Put Rab back in the rabbet

However, if the government really wants a special force like as in many of our neighbouring countries then its organisation and terms of reference should be rewritten. And normal police job should not be one of those.

Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan ndc, psc (Retd)
THE recent discovery of huge cache of small arms in national park in Habiganj district by Rab may help resurrect some of its lost image but it still remains in the spotlight, more so after what we have come to know from media reports about the participation of all the three Rab officials in the gruesome killing in Narayanganj. And they may not be the only Rab officers involved in the seven murders.
The PM has made her government's position clear on the future of the elite force. And no one should take issue with her when she says that the force cannot be disbanded. However, one is not sure if she has mentioned anything about the future task and task-org of the force. Certainly, Rab has gone beyond the remit enumerated in its seven tasks which includes maintaining internal security (internal security is a very broad subject and can be made to mean anything under the sun). And that Rab has decided to do nothing beyond the 'seven labours' is admission of the fact. However, if the crossed the line most of the time it could not have been without the orders of the political masters.
That Rab had been indulging in illegal activities has been also acknowledged by the PM through her statement to the media last Saturday when she was responding to a question related to the future of Rab. And that merits repeating. She said: "Didn't the Rab kill more than 1,000 people in a year after its formation in 2004? But no criticism was made then. Everyone praised them then. But we've put them on trial whenever they've committed crimes." So nothing was done during the present government's tenure to remodel the force and put it inside the groove. Instead, they have been used in the same vein.
Unfortunately, the force has to bear the brunt of invectives for the gross misuse and mishandling of the force. Encounter killings and crossfire are but euphemisms for political elimination, which could not have been done without a green signal from the political authority.
So what should the present government do with the force if it cannot to be disbanded? Firstly, a special force must do special jobs not routine police work. Admittedly, it was set up to supplement the police. The non-state actors had really become better equipped than the police and had outsmarted our law enforcing agencies from time to time. If Rab was the need of the time, instead of supplementing the police it actually supplanted them, much to the annoyance of the police, although Rab was under the authority of the IGP. I believe that the police is quite capable of doing the seven tasks of Rab, if it is invested with the manpower and logistical support that Rab has, equally well. And time has come to look seriously at police reorganisation including the matter of passing the Draft Police Act 2007 and implementing it quickly.
The undertone of dissension between the police and Rab may not have been apparent but was enough to induce a show of one-upmanship or soft-pedaling on issues from time to time. And one reason for this state of things was the predominance of military personnel in the organisation, particularly at the level of officers. To add to that the manning of the force had been so blatantly politicised that it lost its character. There are reasons to believe that postings are dictated on the service headquarters on considerations where merit, integrity and professionalism do not feature as selection criteria; and where ERE a p p o i n t m e n t s have fixed tenure, some of the officers have been retained in the force well beyond that.
There are perhaps two options open to the government regarding Rab. One, make it into a really elite force worth the name, and two, keep it as it is with its seven tasks.
If it is to remain as it is, then the first action of the government is reversion of all the military personnel to the military, in phases but in quick time. It is not a soldier's occupation to engage in day to day police job. They are not psychologically attuned for it. If not, we will have to suffer severe consequences of contamination. And I feel that every one on reversion must be thoroughly screened before absorption in their respective services.
However, if the government really wants a special force like as in many of our neighbouring countries then its organisation and terms of reference should be rewritten. And normal police job should not be one of those.
The writer is Editor, Op-Ed and Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.