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2024-08-27 Bangladesh
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All you need to know about the Ansar force and its protest
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 Following festivities late on Sunday between Ansar members and students near the Bangladesh Secretariat that left dozens injured from both sides, the role of the force and its history are now the talk of the town and under scrutiny.
Administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Force, also known as the Ansar Bahini, is a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for the preservation of internal security and law enforcement in Bangladesh.
The force comprises approximately six million members, organized into three main divisions: Ansar Forces, Battalion Ansar and Village Defence Team (VDP).
What led to the protest?
The protests by Ansar personnel began on Wednesday, demanding job nationalization as they work on a daily wage basis and the abolition of the rest tradition.
According to the Ansar regulation, a member is sent on a six-month mandatory leave after working for three consecutive years. During the period, Ansar members suffer a miserable life as they do not get paid.
According to officials, the government do not pay any salary to 70,000 general Ansar members. A member is paid by the office — Tk 540 per day -- where he is deployed for security and other purposes.
Besides, ration facilities are allocated for them through the Ministry of Home Affairs on behalf of the force.
On average, the Ansar and VDP headquarters receive a deployment requisition for 55,000 for different institutes or government offices around the year.
Besides General Ansars, there are around 17,000 regular members in the force called the Battalion Ansar. The force has also around 570,000 VDP members, whose jobs are volunteer-based.
WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY?
On Sunday, their rally started outside the National Press Club and spread across the area, causing road closures.
The Ansar personnel were unsuccessful in their multiple attempts to enter the Secretariat.
A meeting was held with a seven-strong delegation from the Ansars and Home Adviser Mohammad Jahangir Alam Chowdhury at 3pm.
The home adviser said the Ansar rest policy would be abolished.
He also said a committee would review other demands and submit a report for further decisions.
Despite this decision, Ansar members continued their protests, leading to a blockade of the Secretariat where many officials were unable to leave until later in the evening.
An emergency meeting involving five advisors and 10 Ansar representatives was held around 7:45pm, chaired by the home adviser, and festivities resumed around 9:45pm, leaving around 40 people from both sides injured.
At around 10pm, army troops and police arrived at the scene, eventually bringing the situation under control.
Hasnat Abdullah, coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement, in a Facebook post blamed former director general of Ansar, Maj Gen AKM Aminul Haque, for a continued blockade of the Secretariat, even after the demands of protesting Ansar members were met.
AKM Aminul Haque is the elder brother of former deputy minister of water resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim.
Following the clash, the government reshuffled 19 senior positions within the Ansar force.
Till now, at least three cases have been filed over the incident at Paltan, Shahbagh, and Ramna cop shoppes.
WHAT IS ANSAR FORCE?
The name originates from the Arabic word "Ansar," which means "volunteer" or "helper."
On its website, the force says its vision is to ensure peace, order, development and security nationwide for a prosperous and secure state, while its missions are (a) active participation in public safety and disaster response efforts; (b) contributing to the country's socio-economic development by transforming the force's voluntary members into human resources; and (c) participating in law enforcement and operational activities with other forces as directed by the government.
The Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party is the country's largest community-based disciplined forces.
The force is headed by a director general. The current Ansar chief is Major General Abdul Motaleb Sazzad Mahmud.
The director general functions from the Bangladesh Ansar headquarters, located in Khilgaon, Dhaka.
HISTORY
On February 12, 1948, the Ansar force was established, and the Ansar Act was approved by the then East Bengal legislative assembly, coming into effect on June 17, 1948.
Initially, the training activities of the force were temporarily held in Shahbagh, Dhaka.
The organizational activities of the force began at the district level with the integration of 27 officers from the disbanded Home Guard into the Ansar Bahini. With their assistance, British official James Buchanan, founding director of the force, developed a comprehensive proposal, which was subsequently approved by the government.
In 1951, Ali Azgor was appointed director general of the Ansar Bahini when Buchanan left the country due to his age and deteriorating health. Azgor was director general for a very short period, soon replaced by HMS Doha. As director general Doha contributed a lot to the growth and progress of the organization. During his tenure, the Ansar Bahini obtained 42,000 rifles and the number of members shot up to 1.4 million.
During the 1965 Indo-Pak war, Ansar members were deployed to defend the country's border posts.
Following the oath-taking of Bangladesh's first provisional government during the Liberation War, 12 Ansar members, led by Platoon Commander Yad Ali, provided a guard of honour to the then-acting president.
The Ansar force was disbanded during the war by the Pak military rulers, being labelled as rebels.
Around 40,000 Ansar members participated in the Liberation War, with 670 people, including nine officers, four employees and 657 Ansar members, sacrificing their lives.
One member was awarded the Bir Bikrom title and two received the Bir Protik title.
After independence, from 1973 to 1975, the Ansar force's training activities were conducted in Savar.
In 1976, the Village Defence Party (VDP) was formed, followed by the creation of the Town Defence Party (TDP) in 1980. Both forces would be later integrated with the Ansar force.
The National Ansar Training Centre (NATC) was established in Safipur, Kaliakair, Gazipur, in 1976. It was renamed the Ansar Training School in 1983, and in 1986 it was upgraded to the Ansar Academy. It became the Ansar-VDP Academy in 1995.
The force is currently governed by the Ansar Bahini Act, 1995 and the Battalion Ansars Act, 1995, which were approved by the president on February 15, 1995, and became effective the next day.
According to these laws and Article 152 of the constitution, the Ansar force is recognized as a "disciplined force."
In 2004, the Bangladesh Ansar and VDP received the Independence Award. Battalion Ansars were included under the National Pay Scale in October 2008, gaining entitlement to family rations and combat uniforms.
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Posted by Fred 2024-08-27 00:00||
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