Operation Dal-Bhaat
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Operation Dal-Bhat was an operation carried out by
Bangladesh Rifles Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the borde ...
to provide grocery items ( Dal Bhaat) to low income groups in Bangladesh. The operation was carried out during the Caretaker Government of
Fakhruddin Ahmed Fakhruddin Ahmed (born 1 May 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank. On 12 January 2007, he was appointed Chief Adviser (Head of the Government) of the non-p ...
. It was one of the main reasons behind the Bangladesh Rifles Mutiny of 2009. Colonel
Mujibul Haque Md Mujibul Haque Chunnu (born 1 September 1953) is a Jatiya Party politician and the current Secretary General of the party. He is the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Kishoreganj-3 constituency since 2009. He served as the S ...
who was killed in the mutiny was in charge of the operation. The mutineers demanded their share of the profits from the operation.


Background

At the end of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's 2001–2006 term, the Awami League questioned the neutrality of K. M. Hasan, the immediate past Chief Justice, who was in line to become Chief Advisor of the caretaker government. With uncertainty about who would be appointed as CA, Awami League supporters led protests and violence beginning on 28 October, popularly known as the '' logi boitha movement'', which resulted in at least 12 deaths and thousands of injuries. On that day, Awami League activists allegedly beat and killed members of an opposing party."Opposition welcomes B'desh U-turn"
, BBC News, 26 April 2007. Military representatives met with President Ahmed on 11 January, urging him to declare a state of emergency, and to resign and appoint an Interim Chief Advisor.Ishaan Tharoor, "General Command"
, ''Time Magazine'', 19 June 2008 According to a United States diplomatic cable later released under Wikileaks, the Army Chief, General
Moeen U Ahmed Moeen Uddin Ahmed is a former Bangladesh Army general and the 12th Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army from 15 June 2005 to 15 June 2009 with last one-year extension during the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed. He has worke ...
, and his group persuaded the President to declare a state of emergency on 11 January 2007. At the time, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence & Counterterrorism, Brigadier General
A T M Amin ATM Amin is a retired General of the Bangladesh Army. He is a former Director General of Forces Intelligence, and a former Director General of Ansar and VDP. He was forced into retirement in 2009. Career As Brigadier General he was director of ...
, met with the US Ambassador, Patricia Butenis, to explain the military's concerns. Given the Awami League's withdrawal from the elections, they believed that supporting a one-sided election might threaten the armed forces continued participation in UN peacekeeping missions – UNPKO, which they valued. In addition, they were worried about threatened terrorist violence from ''
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen ("Assembly of Mujahideen--Bangladesh", abbreviated: JMB; bn, জামাত-উল-মুজাহিদীন বাংলাদেশ) is a terrorist organisation operating in Bangladesh. It is listed as a terror group b ...
'' ( JMB), which had set off 300 bombs in August 2005. They wanted a neutral government established until "fair, free and credible elections" could be held in which all parties participated. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
reported on 11 January 2007 that, given the withdrawal of the Awami League, and announced resignations, the United Nations and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
immediately suspended their
election monitoring Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...
operations, as conditions for a credible vote did not exist. On the same day as the UN and EU withdrawal, Chief Advisor
Iajuddin Ahmed Iajuddin Ahmed (1 February 193110 December 2012) was the President of Bangladesh, serving from 6 September 2002 until 12 February 2009. From late October 2006 to January 2007, he also served as Chief Advisor of the caretaker government. From Oc ...
announced a state of emergency in Bangladesh. He established a late night to early morning (11 p.m. to 5 am) curfew. ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' reported this action as a form of ''coup d'état.'' On 12 January 2007, with military backing, the former
Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh Bank ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক) is the central bank of Bangladesh and is a member of the Asian Clearing Union. It is fully owned by the Government of Bangladesh. The bank is active in developing green bankin ...
governor
Fakhruddin Ahmed Fakhruddin Ahmed (born 1 May 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank. On 12 January 2007, he was appointed Chief Adviser (Head of the Government) of the non-p ...
, who had worked for the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, was sworn in as the new Chief Advisor. He appointed five advisors on 13 January to form the new interim government. When he was officially named as the head of the caretaker government, he lifted the curfew. The state of emergency was continued, suspending some basic rights provided by the constitution, such as the freedom of movement, assembly, and speech to limit protests and disruptive political activity."State of emergency report"
, BBC In 2007, the caretaker government pursued graft and corruption charges against both major party leaders and some of their senior staff. It filed charges against 160 politicians, civil servants, and businessmen, including Tareque and
Arafat Rahman Arafat Rahman, nicknamed "Koko" (December 8, 1969 – January 24, 2015) was a Bangladeshi cricket organizer and former Chairman of the Development Committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. He was also the younger son of former President of Ban ...
, two sons of the former prime minister,
Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...
, who were both active in the BNP."Opposition welcomes B'desh U-turn"
, BBC News, 26 April 2006, accessed 29 April 2013 Later in the year, the government filed charges of corruption against both her and
Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...
, leader of the Awami League. This anti-corruption effort was greeted with approval by the people, who were tired of government officials "siphoning off the country's wealth." On 12 July 2007, Sheikh Hasina, party leader of the Awami League, was arrested for graft, based on charges filed by a businessman against her for actions in 1998."Former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina arrested"
''Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India)'', 16 July 2007, accessed 29 April 2013


Operation

The Military backed caretaker government launched Operation Dal-Bhat to sell commodities (rice, maize, and oil) to low income families during a time of high inflation. The operation started in March 2007 with 17 temporary markets followed by a further 25 markets manned by soldiers of Bangladesh Rifles. Colonel Mohammad Mojibul Haque, commander of Bangladesh Rifles' Dhaka Sector, led the operation. The Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary unit responsible for guarding the borders of Bangladesh and commanded by Bangladesh Army officers, were employed to carryout the task. In August 2007, The Daily Star wrote about the need to expand stores under Operation Dal-Bhat. By late 2008 many of the personnel of Bangladesh Rifles personnel felt that their officers had deprived them of their shares of their profit from Operation Dal-Bhat. During the operation, commodities were sold to a hundred thousand people per day in Dhaka. Rice, maize, and edible oil worth four billion BDT were sold during the course of the operation. The shops had sold 130 thousand tones of rice, two thousand tones of maize, and three thousand five hundred ton of edible oil. The operation was ended on 28 September 2008. Many of the soldiers had not received their allowance for the operation. Colonel Mohammad Mojibul Haque claimed they did not make a profit from the sales.


Aftermath

Soldiers of Bangladesh Rifles resented that their commanding officers came from Bangladesh Army and that resentment was further fueled by grievances from Operation Dal-Bhat. This led to the Bangladesh Rifles to mutiny on 25 February in which 74 people were killed including 57 officers of Bangladesh Army. Major General Shakil Ahmed, Director General of Bangladesh Rifles, was praising the soldiers of for their role in Operation Dal-Bhat at the beginning of the darbar on the day of the mutiny which enraged the soldiers. Bangladesh Rifles was renamed to
Border Guards Bangladesh Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the borde ...
. Colonel Mujibul Haque, commander of Dhaka Sector of Bangladesh Rifles, who was killed in the mutiny was in charge of the Operation Dal-Bhat. Major General Aziz Ahmed, Director General of
Border Guards Bangladesh Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the borde ...
, spoke to The Daily Star against using uniformed personnel in commercial operations in the future. Major General
Md Mainul Islam Md Mainul Islam is a retired lieutenant general of Bangladesh Army. He is the former Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division and Chief of General Staff (CGS) of Bangladesh Army. He also served as Director General of Border Guards Bang ...
, another Director General of
Border Guards Bangladesh Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the borde ...
, also criticized the deployment of Bangladesh Rifles soldiers in Operation Dal-Bhat. Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions' Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman observed in the 2013 verdict on the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny that the Operation Dal-Bhat had negatively impacted the moral of Bangladesh Rifles personnel. He also observed the operation was not successful due to the limitations of the paramilitary. In November 2017, Justice
Md Nazrul Islam Talukder Md. Nazrul Islam Talukder is a judge of the High Court Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court. He is a member of Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission. Early life Talukder was born on 1 December 1964. He has a bachelors and masters in law. Care ...
of the Bangladesh High Court criticised the use of soldiers in Operation Dal-Bhat. He also said Border Guard Bangladesh should not engage in any operation similar to Operation Dal-Bhat. In November 2017, Talukder, Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, and Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique gave the verdict in the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny case. In the verdict, he asked the government not to repeat such actions that might have a negative effect on moral and professionalism of the soldiers.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Dal-Bhaat Military history of Bangladesh History of Bangladesh (1971–present) 2000s in Dhaka