Arms recovery drive

There are alarming reports that have appeared not very long ago in the media of large quantity of small arms having already found their way inside Bangladesh and that a large stockpile is awaiting delivery though illegal means from neighbouring countries. It will be well to keep in mind that illegal weapons are smuggled in driblets, but while inside Bangladesh they are collected at nodal points before dissipation and dispersal to their final destination. Therefore, it is vital that these weapons are intercepted before they can find their way out into the hands of the retail users. Thus the major thrust that must be undertaken immediately is to enhance border surveillance and preempt the bulk from being distributed, near the border areas. One can then go after the end users of the illegal weapons. The big fish that deal in illegal weapons must be nabbed too.

Effective management of our borders requires the active cooperation of our neighbours. There is a need to share intelligence and data if we are to make our border safe and recovery drive effective. The need to interact more extensively with the neighbours in this matter is very urgent.

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It is important that supervision of the borders are strengthened not only to stop the influx of illegal weapons but also to apprehend the large number of criminals and miscreants that had crossed over to neighboring countries and are now planning to return in order to influence the election through money and muscle power.

But there is also a word of caution that we feel constrained to sound. The recovery drive must cut across party lines, and the arrest of alleged criminals and illegal dealers must not appear to be selective. Neither should there be any excesses in the recovery process. We also understand the public are also being asked to be deposit to the police licensed weapons held by them. While there is no doubt that the legality of all weapons issued officially must be verified at this time, whether the genuine owners with valid documents should be deprived of the possession of their weapons is something the government should think about, and reconsider.