BDR to get new name, uniform to overcome mutiny stigma

Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Aug 20 (PTI) The paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles
is to be renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as part of a
massive restructuring plan to help it overcome the stigma of
the February 25-26 bloody mutiny at its headquarters which
left 57 army officers dead.

A proposal to rename the force, change its uniform to a
distinct, logo and organisational structures was okayed by
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wednesday, officials said.

Under the restructuring, the personnel will wear a
brown-coloured uniform, apparently to differentiate them from
the Army.

The change of name of the force comes six months after
the February rebellion, when the paramilitary personnel
mutinied spraying senior officers with bullets to protest what
they claimed was "deprivation".

Though officials said more time would be needed to go
into "concrete proposals," they were silent on key
restructuring issues like whether and how many Army officers
would continue to be on deputation with the force.

The mutineers also killed eight civilians, eight fellow
BDR soldiers exposing the Hasina government, which was then
less than two months in power, to its worst crisis.

"The prime minister chose the new name from several
proposed names. She also chose the brown combat colour for the
uniform and directed to bring slight changes to the BDR
insignia," Commerce Minister Faruk Khan who was present at the
meeting told reporters.

Hasina's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told PTI that
the PM approved the new name but suggested the force's motto,
'Simante Atandra Prahari' or "ever vigilant guard of the
frontier" should remain unchanged.

Hasina also asked the concerned authorities to
re-examine some of the suggested restructuring measures.

Azad said Hasina asked the BDR chief to place a formal
proposal to the government suggesting appropriate steps for
their implementation.

"We will now prepare a concrete proposal on the BDR
reconstitution in line with the prime minister's directives
bringing changes to some of the proposals and send it to the
home ministry for further procedures," BDR chief major General
Mainul Islam told PTI.

Sources said the committee suggested a three-layer
security intelligence for the paramilitary force also engaging
the National Security Intelligence (NSI), Directorate General
of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and the elite anti-crime Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB).

The government in March formed the reconstitution
subcommittee under a high-level coordination committee headed
by the commerce minister.

Since the rebellion, the army officers serving the BDR
are discharging their duties in military uniforms instead of
the BDR outfit as a mark of disgust for the dress. PTI