Editorial
The issue of cross-border crimes
BDR probe outcome and restructuring are intertwined
OUR attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed about border-related issues in an internal security report on the post-BDR mutiny conditions. Like everyone else apprehensive about such conditions, we too are worried and for obvious reasons. We note, though, that the new director general of the BDR has been sounding upbeat about matters being under control in the border regions. He states that cross border crimes have been declining, even though the security report does not appear to substantiate his claims. We hope, however, that his optimism is well placed. Overall, though, there are very plausible reasons why the country's borders today arouse our collective concern.
The facts of the matter as they stand now are clear. On the one hand, there is a paramount need to restore command and control over the Bangladesh Rifles and restructure it in the earliest possible time in order to ensure effective border security. On the other, there is the truth that unless the on-going investigations into the Pilkhana carnage are completed and unless it is known how many of the BDR personnel will be retained and how many others will be sent home or placed on trial, restructuring will remain a thought on paper only. So what is of utmost importance here is that the investigations and the question of restructuring be not only conceptually but also operationally inter-linked. In the essence, both the processes should be speeded up. Although the country is regularly being reassured of the measures being taken to secure the frontiers, there is the nagging and quite natural feeling that in these existing circumstances border supervision cannot be as we would like it to be. Objective realities cannot be ignored. And for these realities to be addressed, it is essential that the investigations be intensified and their reports finalised at the earliest. It is equally important that the process of restructuring the BDR -- giving it a new name, setting up a new force altogether, et al -- be undertaken on a top priority basis.
Unless these twin issues are handled to public satisfaction, worries over the borders will grow. Lax supervision of the frontiers can only lead to heightened criminal activities. These may well include smuggling in of arms and drugs, trafficking of women and children and the like.
We reiterate, therefore, our belief that all adequate and necessary measures must be taken swiftly and efficaciously in order for the nation's borders to be protected and safe.
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